Wonderland Fallout
by violetsake
Summary: When Tseng goes missing in action, Reno and Rude will do anything to get him back, Anything. Warnings inside
1. Chapter 1

Wonderland Fallout 

**Reno POV**

I lighted a cigarette and placed it to my quivering lips. Slowly, I inhaled its fumes and closed my eyes when I released it. Unfortunately, the heat of the smoke did little to help warm me from the cold icy wind. It was December in Midgar, which meant that temperatures usually ranged from below zero to thirty. I wrapped my arms around myself and rubbed them fervently, trying to stimulate warmth. I leaned against the sleek black vehicle and silently swore. It was so damn cold outside and here I was, standing next to the standard Turk issue car, even though I could just easily get in and warm up. However, there was no way in hell I could take that risk.

I was stationed on the other side of the street, across from the bar where my boss was situated. Peering into the dirty window of the bar, I could see Tseng conversing with the man. Despite the cordial formality he appeared to displaying, he was actually threatening this guy and warning him to back down. We were dealing with a sleaze named Riddick, a smuggler who specialized in selling stolen material. As of late, some of our stock has been disappearing and the president wasn't too pleased about it. We narrowed the possible suspects down to several slum lords, though we didn't have time to continue the investigation to further narrow it down.

The President had grown impatient with our proceedings, and had asked Tseng to speed up the process by any means necessary. So Tseng decided to threaten all of our suspects, which we had narrowed down to four. He was interrogating the third one now, and by the looks of it, he was really getting through to the guy. Tseng casually sipped at his coffee, while Riddick had an expression of complete frustration on his face.

I inwardly smiled to myself. Tseng was a pro at making threats, and the dirt bags under the plate knew he was good on his word. As Turks, we had a pretty bad ass reputation and most, if not everyone, knew never to have the Turks on their bad side. Although there was a possibility that it wasn't this sleaze who had stolen Shin-Ra goods, we weren't taking any chances. And I knew that Tseng was most likely whispering death threats and warnings to this guy, regardless of if he did anything or not. At least he knew never to steal from Shin-Ra, if he had ever planned to.

A cold gust of wind blew and it seemed to go right through my suit jacket, which was actually zipped up for once. My teeth involuntarily chattered and the cigarette between my lips loosened and fell to the ground. I swore and reached down to pick it back up. If this had been any other city, I may have been inclined to put it back in my mouth, but this was Midgar. The most, filthy, disgusting and disease infested city in the world, and I was not willing to take that risk. I'd rather have my health.

I flicked the cigarette to the side, and reached my hands into my pockets in search of another. Sadly, there wasn't one and I reclined back against the car. I looked through the bar again and saw that Tseng was asking for the bill. Fucking finally! I had been out here for at least an hour and I was absolutely freezing. As he paid the bill, I kept a close eye on Riddick, making sure he didn't try anything funny. Even if he did, he wouldn't stand a chance. Not just because Tseng was incredibly skilled, but because on top of a building a few yards from the bar, was Rude. He had a long range rifle, locked and loaded.

He soon exited the bar and I released a sigh of relief. I didn't waste any time to get in the car. I immediately put the key into the ignition and turned on the heat, which came out as cold air first. Tseng entered the passenger side and brushed off a few snowflakes that had graced his dark suit jacket. His incredibly long dark hair also had a few flakes entwined in it, and he ran his fingers through it to get them out. I rolled my eyes at his procedure. He just had to have everything perfect. God forbid a snowflake touches his pristine suit.

"Tseng…really?" I questioned sarcastically. He ignored me and continued to brush off the flakes. I have to admit I was slightly irritated with him. Here I was, covered in snow from standing outside and he gets flustered about a few damn snowflakes in his hair. It was one thing I never fully understood about Tseng. As Turks, we spend 70% of the time covered in grime, blood, soot, and anything else imaginable. The other 30% we spend trying to wash the shit out of our clothes. The company gives us each about two suits a month, which is most certainly not enough. So as much time as we spend dirty, why did Tseng feel it necessary to nitpick at his suit, when it was going to get dirty eventually?

After a few minutes, the car started to warm up and I placed my bitter cold hands in front of the vent. We are waiting on Rude, which shouldn't take too long. He hates the cold too and like me he spent at least an hour in the freezing cold. Tseng relaxed back into his seat and closed his eyes, something he normally did after a stressful day. I glanced at him from out of the corner of my eye. His brows were furrowed down in pain from the migraine he was probably experiencing. Tseng suffers from them constantly, but he hides his pain well behind a face of opaqueness. His face reflects nothing, and his expression is unreadable, at least to those he has to impress.

Around us, he relinquishes his cold exterior to a certain extent. As a Turk, we have to be able to read each other's expressions when words cannot be exchanged, due to the situation. Also, we have grown quite close to each other, and over the years Tseng has opened up to us, although he is still somewhat closed off; but not as much as he used to be.

I reached over him and opened the glove compartment. I pulled out a bottle of aspirin and poured a few into my hand. With the aspirin firmly in hand, I placed them onto Tseng's lips. He grunted at my forwardness, but opened his mouth anyway. I placed two on his tongue and he swallowed them down eagerly.

"Never do that again, Reno." He threatened.

I grinned and shrugged my shoulders in response, not that he could see it. Suddenly, Rude appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. He opened the back door and roughly shoved his case containing the long range rifle across the seat. As soon as he sat down and closed the door, I stepped on the accelerator. I'd had enough of this place and I just want to get the fuck out of here. I reached the main road and increased my speed to about eighty miles per hour.

There isn't really a speed limit in the slums of Midgar. Everyone just tries to get to their destinations as fast as they can without dying. We still had one more destination left to go in sector 3. This last guy we didn't exactly know much about, except for the fact that he dealt in stolen goods. In all actuality, we only had a description to go off of what the guy looked like. We had a tip about a big time underground seller in sector 3 who had sold a guy on the street a summon materia. Once we confiscated the materia, we immediately recognized it as Shin-Ra property. The guy told us what little he knew and since he was so cooperative, we let him go with only one broken arm.

I veered left into the slum and onto the shit-ass roads that were made of metal boards and cracked up cobblestone. I slowed down to a cautious 40 mph. Kids frequently darted across the roads and although Shin-Ra does overlook a lot of the corrupt things within the company, I don't think running over a child would be acceptable.

"Hey, Tseng. Where do I go from here?" I was driving aimlessly now. He opened his eyes and sat up slowly. He glanced outside the window for a brief moment before lying back down.

"Make a left on the upcoming street." He said flatly.

I did as I was told and continued on down the road. "Now what?" I asked. I hadn't actually read Tseng's report on any of the cases, so all day I had to ask where we were going.

"Just keep straight until you see a rundown strip bar."

My eyes instantly lit up. "Whoa! Oh shit, were going to a strip joint! Why didn't you say so?" I increased my speed again, not caring anymore if I hit anyone.

"This is strictly business, Reno." He warned. "Besides, you're not even going in. I'm taking Rude with me. You'll be out here by the car just in case we need a quick getaway."

I immediately stepped on the brake. The car came to an abrupt, violent, jerky stop. I was highly upset with his decision. Tseng was holding his head in his hands in agony, and in the mirror I could see that Rude wasn't too happy either. In my rage, I didn't care.

"Why the hell are you taking Rude? I've been freezing my damn balls off from being out in the cold all day and you want to take Rude! He went with inside with you on the first two cases! That's so…!"

I was cut off by a fist to the face. He punched me square in the jaw and I reactively grabbed my chin. "Shit, Tseng! What the hell?" My jaw was throbbing in pain.

Suddenly, Tseng grabbed me by my shirt collar. His eyes were enraged and his lips were curled up into a snarl. "What the hell is wrong with you Reno?" He yelled.

I tried to jerk out of his grip, but he held me firm. "You know what's wrong with me you dipshit!"I yelled back, not caring that he had me in his grip. I was never one for rationality when I was furious.

"I want to go with you! I don't want to be stuck outside again while you and Rude get all the action! Fuck that!" I was extremely upset.

Tseng released me roughly with a scowl and sat back in his chair. He shook his head in disbelief and crossed his arms. "Very well then. You can go with me, and Rude will be outside."

A wide grin graced my face and I grabbed both of Tseng's hands between my own. "Thanks, Tseng." I said before planting a playful kiss on his knuckles. He snatched his hands away and pushed me to the side.

"Cut that shit out Reno." He said annoyed.

"Whatever you say, boss man."

I started the car again and continued on down the road. About halfway to the bar, Rude decides to pinch the shit out of my arm. "Ouch! Rude, what the hell?"

He leaned close to my ear and glanced at Tseng to make sure that he can't hear. "You know I'm gonna kill you right?" he said evenly, but with a heated undertone. "We both know you don't even like girls as much as I do. This was my only opportunity to actually enjoy myself while working, you little prick!" He hissed in my ear.

"Aw come on Rude. We're buddies right? No biggie." I said.

"Bull-shit Reno, I know you just want to be with the boss. You don't even give a shit about the topless women in the bar."

"Hey, Hey! Shush dude!" Rude had said that just a little too loud. I glanced over at Tseng to see if he reacted to anything he might have heard. "Shut the hell up Rude!" I hissed. "He doesn't fucking know that."

Rude snickered. "He'll find out eventually. You can't even go a whole day without touching him in some way."

"Shut up dumbass."

"For all you know, he might already be aware."

"He doesn't know, he thinks I'm hot for chickas. And technically I still am, sorta." I said with a little more insecurity in my voice than I would have liked.

"The hell you are Reno." He said before reclining back in his seat.

I did feel bad for bitching to get my way and for taking this opportunity away from Rude, but he was right. I pretended to be upset about not being able to go to the strip bar and enjoy myself, when in all actuality I just wanted to be with Tseng. Rude had had his turn and now it was mine. Of course I viewed my time with Tseng differently than Rude. He saw personal time with Tseng as a chance to learn and gain experience from observation. I saw personal time with Tseng as a chance to spend time with my hot, sexy ass boss and observe him in more ways than one.

Of course I didn't know exactly how Tseng felt about me. I knew he thought I was a goofy, irrational, lazy alcoholic, but that I was also a highly skilled Turk. He didn't really seem to care for my playful advances on him either. I scratched my head in frustration. Tseng was hard to read sometimes so most likely I would never know how he really felt. I released a slight sigh and tried to suppress the thought.

Finally, we had reached the strip bar. I parked across the street from the bar. Tseng bolted up, suddenly wide awake and alert. It never failed to weird Rude and I out how he did that. Tseng could be dead tired before a case and all he would do is lay down for a few minutes, then suddenly be alert and ready; as if he had slept all day and not just for a few minutes.

"Alright listen up." He said to us in a firm tone. "Because we really don't know much about this guy, we're going to have to play it safe. If anything in the conversation seems to be going wrong, we're out of there. Understood?"

We both nodded in agreement. "Good. Also, is everyone armed? Everyone's earpiece communicators in?" He asked. Another nod. "Alright, let's go Reno." He exited the car and I looked back at Rude, who was just exuding with anger, which made me feel even worse.

"Cheer up buddy. If it makes you feel better, we can go watch a whole shitload of porn after this, okay." I said hopeful.

He glanced up at me and ripped the shades from his face. He shot me a glare so fierce; it could rival the Great General Sephiroth.

"If you want to live to see the inside of that bar, I suggest you get the hell out of this car. Right. Now." He said with heated intensity.

I gulped and quickly opened the door. "Um…yeah. See ya later, Rude." I said nervously.

Turning my attention to Tseng, I walked over to where he was across the street. He nodded his head at me and we went inside. Hopefully, this wouldn't take too long.

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**Reviews are greatly appreciated and I hope to update soon!**

**Thank you for reading :) **


	2. Chapter 2

Wonderland Fallout

**Reno POV**

The condition of the bar on the inside was in a lot better condition than on the outside, though not by much. Sleazy red-velvet, or an imitation of velvet, lined the walls. The place reeked of a combination of unwashed male, cheap alcohol and cigarette smoke. The lights were kept dim so the focus could be on the women on the stage. As Tseng and I walked further into the bar, we did a quick survey of the area.

Most of the people here were middle aged gentlemen, or teenagers looking for a good time. They seemed harmless enough, but I would never underestimate anyone who grew up in the slums. These people grew up hard, and I'm pretty sure anyone of them could be a handful if they wanted to go at it.

We choose a spot in a secluded area of the bar. A topless blonde waitress, clad in nothing but a see-through mini skirt, a pink thong and pumps approached. She beamed at us, and I smiled at cordially her, though I couldn't take my eyes off her chest. Her breasts were huge, not that it mattered. I was just seeing if I would get a hard on from staring at them. It wasn't working, and I was beginning to grow frustrated with myself. I tore my eyes away from her with a scowl.

She leaned over closer to me, her large breast practically grazing my shoulder. "What can I get for you two beautiful suits?" She said in a Slum drawled accent.

"I'll have a beer." I said, while trying to not accidentally bump into her chest.

"And for you sweetheart?" She said turning her attention to Tseng, who was not paying any attention to her. Instead, he was staring at a table across the room. I diverted my gaze in the direction Tseng was looking. A man in a tight fitting leopard print suit was situated in the center of the table, with a two large men in dark suits around him. I knew he suspected the man to be our guy. He glanced back at me and I nodded my head in agreement.

We had temporarily forgotten the waitress who was getting annoyed with us ignoring her. She asked Tseng about his choice of drink a little louder and he turned his fierce gaze on her. It startled her a little and she gasped.

"Er… what can I get for you?" She asked a little hesitantly.

Tseng grinned at her and shook his head no. She rolled her eyes at him as she made to leave, but just as she turned around, Tseng grabbed her by her arm, halting her. He gripped her arm tightly and started to drag her toward the table. A look of fear washed over her face as he pulled her back. She struggled in his grasp and tried to wrench away, but Tseng held her firm.

"Please, Let me go!" She cried frantically.

I had to admit, I was a little confused by Tseng's antics. I didn't think he'd hurt the girl, but I wasn't completely sure. I watched as he pulled her closer to him. He stared her right in the eye and I saw her gulp. Her lips were quivering and her large blue eyes were wide with fright.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He said calmly. "I just want to ask you some questions."

She nodded her head in understanding and he released her. She rubbed her wrist, which was slightly red. "What is it?" She asked, eager to leave.

Tseng pointed to the table where the man in the leopard suit sat. "Can you tell me who that gentleman is over there?" He asked.

She glanced over her shoulder briefly before nodding her head. "He goes by the name of Faire." She said nervously.

"Go on." I said, anxious to hear more about this guy.

"Well…You didn't hear this from me, but I heard he sells things on the black market or something. He's very rich."

"Anything else?" Tseng asked.

"Not that I know of. I'm not very informed. Can I go now?" She said with an attitude. Tseng waved her off and she turned to leave.

"Don't forget my beer!" I yelled after her.

I turned my attention back to Tseng. He had a strained look on his face. I knew he had wanted to get a little more information about the guy before we walked over there.

"Don't worry about it Tseng. All we have to do is threaten the guy. We don't need to know everything about him in order to do that." I said trying to be positive.

"I know that. It's just that…something…doesn't seem quite right." He said frustrated.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

Just as he was about to speak again, the waitress came back. She handed me my beer and placed an appletini in front of Tseng. He looked at the drink and then at her in confusion.

"I didn't order anything." He said.

"It's from Faire. He sent it over for you." She said, her voice a little nervous.

Tseng stared down at the drink, then at me. I shrugged my shoulders and took a sip of my beer. Tseng picked up the glass slowly and turned his gaze in Faire's direction. The man flashed his perfect pearly white teeth and nodded his head to us. Tseng then looked back at me and tilted his head over in Faire's direction. We grabbed our drinks and headed over to the other table. Although it was dim in the bar, I could make out Faire's flashy white teeth; his grin widening with every step we took closer.

Honestly, I had no idea what where going to do once we got over there. I hope Tseng had a plan because I sure didn't. His bodyguards stared us down suspiciously as we approached. I really didn't appreciate the looks they were giving us and if they kept it up, I might be so inclined as to bash their faces in.

As we got closer to him, I could make out more of his features. Faire had long pale blond hair that was tied back into an extensive braid. His eyes were a soft gray color, with a hint of green. He was very attractive.

"Mind if we sit here?" Tseng said coolly.

"Of course not. Be my guest." Faire said politely. We sat down and sipped at our drinks. I kept my eyes on him and I noticed that he had his eyes glued to Tseng. I moved my chair closer to Tseng, just in case.

"Thanks for the drink." Tseng said.

"Oh no problem. I love buying drinks for gorgeous men." He said with a wide grin on his face.

I glanced at Tseng, who had a look of amusement on his face. I didn't though. My expression was nothing short of irritated. For one, how dare this mother fucker try to push up on Tseng! And two, why didn't he buy me a drink? I'm not saying I'm a vain person, but I know for damn sure that I'm pretty attractive!

Tseng finished off his drink and set it to the side. "Pleasantries aside," he said in a serious tone. "The reason we're here is because a lot of Shin-Ra materia has gone missing. We know you deal in stolen goods and if you are indeed the one stealing from Shin-Ra, it would be in your best interest to stop."

Faire released a small laugh, but didn't speak. He kept his eyes focused on Tseng and sipped at his drink.

"If you do not cease your illegal actions, the Turks will be forced to compromise you." He said in all seriousness. I inwardly grinned. "Compromise" in Turk code meant "fuck you up."

Faire didn't seem fazed by Tseng's threats though. Instead, he leaned closer to us with that annoying grin on his face. I was starting to hate this guy more and more with every passing second. He rested his chin on his fist and kept his eyes locked onto Tseng's. He had a dreamy expression on his pretty face as he stared at him. His were eyes hazed over and half lidded. Tseng didn't seem vexed by his extensive staring, and he kept his expression blank.

I was increasing growing angrier, and I had to resist the urge to punch him right in his stupid dreamy looking face. Also, the fact that Tseng wasn't doing anything made me even more upset. How could he just let this prick gawk at him like that? I glared at Faire and kept my expression harsh, so he would most definitely know how I felt about him. Suddenly, Faire released an amused laugh, then spoke.

"I wonder…" Faire began. He looked Tseng up and down and his grin instantly widened. "I wonder what you would look like sprawled out underneath me". He said playfully.

I instantly bolted up and lunged at the guy. Unfortunately, in my irrationality I had forgotten about the two huge bodyguards sitting on either side of him. Before I could even grab him, one of his bodyguards socked me in the face. I staggered back a little, but I wasn't giving up that easy. I made another attempt to lunge at him again, but I was stifled by a pair of strong arms around my torso. His dark hair spilled over my shoulders. He was so close I could smell the scent of the lavender shampoo he used in his hair. I instantly stopped.

"T-Tseng?" I said trying to catch my breath.

"Reno, calm down." He said next to my ear.

Calm down? I thought. How am I supposed to be calm with Tseng this close to me and his arms around me? Plus, that asshole had made a totally inappropriate remark to my boss. But I would have to calm down if I wanted to get the job done. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Once I settled down, Tseng released me. It was only when I sat back down did I realize I was slightly aroused. Being so close to Tseng had caused that.

Faire had a very amused look on his face as we sat back down. His bodyguards kept a close eye on me.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to push your buttons like that." Faire said smiling.

I rolled my eye and turned my attention away from him. "Whatever." I said sharply.

"Anyway," Tseng began. "I'm sure I've made myself very clear as to what Shin-Ra wants done."

Faire nodded his head and relaxed back into his seat. "Of course, I understand very clearly." He said slyly.

"Very good, we'll take our leave now." Tseng said, though I knew he still had his doubts if anything we said got through Faire's thick horny skull.

Tseng and I stood up to leave, but so did Faire and his crew. As he stood, I realized that Faire was actually quite tall; taller than Tseng or I. He approached Tseng slowly until he was right in front of him. Tseng didn't move and his expression was unreadable. Faire stood about a good six inches taller than Tseng, who was 5' 9'.

"I hope to see you again, lovely ." He said softly. He reached his hand up to touch Tseng's face, but I grabbed his hand before he could. I shot him my fiercest gaze and he actually looked nervous. I roughly released his hand and stood between him and Tseng.

Well, well," He said in fearful amusement. I kept my gaze severe and threatening. Faire took a step back before flashing his pearly whites at me.

"You have beautiful eyes, Reno." He said softly.

"Whatever. Anyway, we were just leaving. Goodbye fuckwad." I said through gritted teeth. I was more upset than usual. I grabbed Tseng's arm and pulled him away from Faire. I dragged him across the bar until we were outside. As soon as we were outside, Tseng snatched his arm away from my grasp. He punched me in the arm and then turned his fierce gaze on me. I hissed in pain at the impact and shot Tseng a heated look of my own.

"What the hell, Tseng!" I said rubbing at my sore arm.

"What were you thinking, Reno?" He yelled. "You need to learn to control your anger."

"Fuck that lil shit, Faire! His remarks to you were totally inappropriate! And it wasn't like you were doing anything about it!" I was livid. How could Tseng berate me for sticking up for him?

"Look Reno, I can take care of myself!" He said as a final note. He crossed the street in a mad fury to the car. Rude was sitting on the side walk, but luckily for him the snow doesn't enter from underneath the plate in this sector.

I entered the driver's side and Tseng entered the passenger side; Rude in the back. Tseng immediately went for the bottle of aspirin in the glove compartment, but I reached over and grabbed the bottle from him. I had just given him two a little less than an hour ago and I didn't want him to accidently overdose or something. He shot me an annoyed look and pinched the bridge of his nose. I closed the bottle and put it back in the compartment. Tseng sighed and relaxed back into his seat.

It was deathly silent on the way back. I didn't want to risk saying anything that would piss Tseng off even more. Rude usually didn't talk in the car so I wasn't expecting him to say anything. I glanced over at Tseng who was reclined back into the seat. He was really tired, we all were. I couldn't wait to get home and pass out on my couch. I had just bought a new futon and I couldn't wait to break that baby in.

As I pulled onto the expressway, I accelerated to 100mph. I wanted to get home as soon as possible. I drove on for a few more miles until, all of sudden; I thought I heard a whistling sound. I looked down at Tseng to see if it was him who was making the sound. It wasn't him, he was practically asleep. The sound was increasingly getting louder. I looked into my mirror to see if Rude was doing anything that could be making the sound. Nope. He was quiet and texting on his phone.

I pondered what the annoying sound could be. I glanced around my surroundings and came up with nothing. Suddenly, Tseng's eyes shot open and bolted up. He startled me and the car swerved a bit. I regained control of the car and shot Tseng a confused look. He looked at me with deep concern in his dark eyes, almost bordering on fear. It was starting to make me nervous. He looked around frantically and then outside the window.

"Oh shit!" He exclaimed. "Reno, drive faster, NOW!"

I didn't question him and increased my speed. The whistling sound was very loud now, to the point where it was ear screeching.

"What the hell is that, Tseng?" I said nervously. Hr didn't answer me, but kept his eyes focused on the window. Since I was going over 150 mph, I couldn't exactly turn and see what he was looking at.

Then I heard Rude swear from behind me. Something was definitely wrong. The sound was no longer a whistle, but a loud ear splitting racket. It sounded like something was coming at us at high speed.

My eyes went wide when I realized what it was. I increased my speed to 200 mph.

"Tseng, please tell me that sound isn't from a missile." I said nervously.

"It…is, most definitely." Tseng said, his voice slightly quivering. "It's headed right for us."

"Well what the fuck do we do?" I yelled frantically.

"Just keep driving Reno." He said trying to keep me calm. I was nowhere near calm. I was honestly scared shitless.

"The missile is aiming for the bridge we're currently on." Rude informed. "And from the looks of it, we only have about 30 seconds till impact."

"Fuck!" I slammed on the gas. I was determined to make it across regardless. I was going so fast everything in my peripheral vision was just a blur.

I only had about 50 more yards to go when it hit. The impact was phenomenal. The explosion caused the car to jerk forward and spin out of control. I tried to regain control of the car but the centripetal force was too much. I closed my eyes and released the wheel, bracing myself for the impact. The car continued to spin until it slammed into the cement barricade, on my side. I don't remember much after the impact. I blacked out as soon as my head hit the window, effectively cracking the it. Then I fell unconscious.

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**Thank you for reading! Please leave a review or comment, I would greatly appreciate it!**

**Mon Dieu**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Final Fantasy = Squaresoft/Enix.**

**A/N: for some reason I forgot to put the warnings up, oops!**

**Warnings throughout this story: Language, abuse, graphic m/m relations, violence, rape/bondage, favors**

Wonderland Fallout

**Tseng's POV**

The smell of smoke was thick within the air. It filled my nostrils and awakened my senses. I made an attempt to open my eyes, but immediately closed them as a bright light met my gaze. The light seeped in through my eyelids, causing me to see the color red. I grunted as I gradually opened them again, straining my eyes to stay open. It was then that I realized the bright light was from the blaze of a fire, which was not more than a few yards from where I was situated.

The car was pressed against the side of a cement wall, or what was left of it. I remember the air bag inflating and then something making it pop, which caused my head to hit the dashboard. My head was still lying on the dashboard when I awoke. I was awkwardly positioned, but in little pain. I moved my hands and curled my toes to test my responses. My body was sore, but nothing appeared to be broken.

Slowly, I lifted my head up and relaxed back into the seat. I could barely see through the broken windshield, but I could make out the intense flame that was brewing. I didn't know if the fire would spread to us, but I wasn't taking any chances. I turned my head around to peer behind me. My eyes went wide as I set my gaze upon Rude. I swore out loud and immediately unbuckled my seatbelt. I pulled my legs up into the seat, and rotated my body.

I carefully climbed into the backseat, making sure I didn't touch Rude before I assessed his dilemma. My unfortunate comrade was wedged between the front and back seat, on the floor of the car. His arm, obviously broken, was twisted back behind his body. I couldn't tell if anything else was broken from this position, but I could see that a few glass shards from the window were protruding from his back, meaning that they were embedded into his flesh as well. I reached into my suit pocket, hoping to find my cell phone. Unfortunately, my cell was cracked and unusable. I swore again and peered down at Rude. I had to get him help.

I hopped back into the front seat again to check on Reno. Hopefully he was in better condition than Rude. I couldn't see his small form over the air bag so I had to pop the bag. I grabbed the knife I kept hidden underneath the sole of my shoes and stabbed the bag with it. It deflated slowly and I could somewhat make out Reno's form. Once it was depleted of air, I saw him. My heart sunk at the site of Reno's misfortune.

His head had slammed against the glass window on impact. Blood was slowly oozing out of the side of his head and down the cracked window. I surveyed his body for any noticeable injuries and was slightly relieved when I didn't see any.

Unlike SOILDER, the Turks are only injected with a small amount of mako. Enough to keep up alive if shot, but not enough to keep us alive if Shin-Ra wants to get rid of us. As Turks, we obtain valuable information that if exposed to the public would destroy Shin-Ra. That's why they only inject us with very little mako, so if need be they can kill us if necessary. It has always irked me a bit that they want us to risk our lives for the company by sending us on dangerous missions, but they can't give us a full injection of mako to make our job easier. If we had more mako injections, then we would probably be in a better condition than we were now.

I relaxed back into my seat and ran my hand over my face. Both my comrades were injured and I didn't have a phone to call for help. I needed to think of something quick. Make that double quick. The flame that had been a few yards from us, was now about a feet from the car. Now I had to get them both out before the car caught on fire.

My adrenaline started pumping as I tried to open my side door. It wouldn't open by the handle so I had to forcefully kick it open. The door jutted open and I could now hear the crackle of the fire that was approaching. With no time to spare, I lunged into the back seat where Rude was. I had to lift him up and I hoped that he didn't wake up; otherwise he'd been in excruciating pain. There was no way I could wrap my arms around his chest to lift him up, so I had to be a bit cruel and grab him by his jacket.

A glass shard cut my hand as I grasped his jacket. I had forgotten he had them embedded in his suit, and as much as I wanted to take them out, I knew I couldn't at the moment. With all my might, I hoisted his upper body up until I could quickly wrap my arms around his waist to pull him up. Rude was heavy, and I struggled a bit as I pulled him up off the floor and onto the backseat. Once that feat was accomplished, I had to figure out how I was going to get him out.

I kicked at the back door that wasn't pressed against the cement wall. Surprisingly, the door opened easily and for that I was grateful. I exited the car and dragged Rude from the backseat. I paused for a few seconds to catch my breath from the exertion, and then resumed my task. I grunted as I hoisted Rude up and flung him over my shoulders. Good heavens he was heavy. I could feel my knees start to buckle as his heavy weight lay limp upon my shoulder.

However, I had to keep going. Letting my teammates die in such a fashion would not be acceptable. My comrades meant so much to me, more than they'll ever know or realize. More than I would ever confess. I needed them; I had to save them, even at the cost of my own life. It's not something I like admitting, but when it all comes down to it, they're all I have.

I got a good grip on Rude and began moving. The flame was increasing in size and growing closer. I willed my heavy ladened body to move faster and crossed in front of the car. The end of the bridge was a good thirty yards away. I moved as quickly as I possibly could with Rude a dead weight on my shoulder. My body was already tired, but I had to press on. My head was beginning to throb mercilessly and my shoulder blade was in pain from the excessive weight placed so suddenly on my shoulders.

Unlike Rude, Reno and I were built for agility and speed. Our bodies were thin and toned, where as Rude's was powerfully built. I had to stop and place Rude down for a minute to rest my aching shoulder. I rotated the joint a bit before picking him back up. It seemed even harder the second time to lift him off the ground, but I managed as best I could.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I made it across. I placed Rude down on the side of the road face down, so that the glass in his back wouldn't be further pushed in. I kneeled down next to him and peered at his expressionless face. I felt so bad for having to leave him like this, but I had no choice. I placed my hand gently on his cheek and closed my eyes.

_Please, stay alive…_

With that passing thought, I quickly gathered myself up and ran back toward the car. As I was going back, I noticed that the whole center of the bridge was gone. I hadn't been aware of it before because I didn't look back behind me while I was carrying Rude. I quickly made my way over to the car and into the passenger side. The flames were practically nipping the vehicle by the time I reached Reno. He hadn't moved a bit and more blood was starting to gush from his head.

Quickly, I pulled off my suit jacket and ripped a long strip of my shirt off. Carefully, I reached my hands out to Reno and pulled his head away from the window. Immediately, warm blood started to flow over my hand. I grabbed the strip of cloth I had torn and began to wrap it around his damaged head. Hopefully it would stop the blood from flowing so much, but allow just enough blood to pass so that he didn't form a blood clot.

I got a good grip around Reno's torso and pulled him out of the driver's seat. Fortunately, Reno weighed a lot less than Rude did, but he was still pretty heavy considering. I pulled him from the car through the passenger side and made and attempt to carry him on my shoulder. But I was so exhausted that I couldn't lift him up, so I settled for carrying him bridal style. The flames hit the car as soon as we exited the vehicle.

I had to walk past the flames in order to get to the other side. Smoke from the flames filled my lungs as I carried Reno, making it difficult to breathe. I peered down at Reno's unconscious form and my heart sank. Half the side of his face was covered in blood. The crimson liquid was seeping into his mouth. I continue to stare down at his limp form as I carried him, never taking my eyes off his unique features.

I must admit I have often dreamed of him. My dreams of him are usually very sensual, and sometimes it surprises me of how much I do dream about him. He is truly beautiful, and I do find him attractive; however, I have never felt this way about a man before, so it takes me off guard when he touches me playfully and I feel myself rouse to his advances. Sometimes it makes me angry, that I respond to him like that and I lash out at him. I mean him no harm really, I'm just confused and anger is my only response. Sometimes, after a night in which I dream passionately about him, I come into work the next day with the sole intent on being harsh to him, just to release my frustration out on the one who caused it.

Of course, Reno normally ignores my banter and continues to playfully flirt with me. It confuses me even more because I don't know if he's being serious or if he's joking. A few times, like earlier today when he kissed my hands, I could almost swear he was serious, although there was a playful twinkle in his aqua colored eyes. But I suppose that's because it's in his nature to be mischievous and hardheaded.

I grinned down at him and pulled his head up closer to my face. I stared at his bloody lips, those lips I have so often dreamed about against my own. I want so badly to kiss those crimson stained lips, just to see if anything will happen within me. I brought his head up and leaned down closer to his mouth. I hesitated for a moment, thinking I shouldn't be taking advantage of him. But the guilt soon passed as I pressed my lips upon his bloody ones.

Immediately I stopped walking as a sensation I have never felt before wells up inside me. His lips are bloody, cracked and dry, but it does nothing to effect the feeling I have as our lips unite. The kiss was chaste and I took it no further, although I had the burning desire to. I released his lips and peered down at him. My kiss had made his lips less bloody, but now his blood coats my own. With some effort, I continued to walk back to the other side of the bridge, holding Reno close to my chest.

Suddenly, a loud monstrous noise erupts from behind me, followed by a force that makes the ground shake violently. I stumbled around awkwardly with Reno in my arms, but I did not drop him. The ground shook again and this time I saw the cause of it. The bridge was falling apart. A large crack was forming and the bridge was already starting to crumble. I ran as fast as I could in the direction of the other side, but the ground was beginning to give way underneath my feet, literally. I was to the point where every step I took was not there the next second.

I had just about three yards to go, but the bridge gave way in front of me. I tried to keep going forward, but I was starting to go down. This was it. With my last bit of strength, I tossed Reno onto the safe side. A smile graced my face as he made it across and hit the ground on his side. The force at which I had tossed him over caused the bridge to completely give way. There wasn't much water underneath this bridge and to fall into the deepest part of the water would be my only saving grace, as long as the debris from the bridge didn't kill me.

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**Thanks to those who have read and reviewed! Please keep it up! **


	4. Chapter 4

Wonderland Fallout

**Reno's POV**

I opened my eyes slightly, only to be greeted by a bright white light. I winced at the discomfort and turned my head away from the beam. As my eyes focused and became accustomed to the light, I opened them wider. Confusion entered my mind as I realized I didn't know where I was. I made an attempt to move, but instantly stopped once a bolt of pain shot up through my spine. _Oh shit, that hurt._ I bit my lip to cover the howl that would have erupted, due to the pain.

Instead of sitting up, I settled for just moving my head around, which also turned out to be a rather difficult task. My head was throbbing, and every toss and turn made it ache even more. Through the pain, I managed to turn my head to the left. Situated next to me was a patient monitor; I could see the erratic green line that was my heartbeat, go up and down. There was also a side table that had pills and a glass of water on it.

Judging by the scenery, I assumed I was in a hospital. I looked to my right to see a grand window with red curtains that had the Shin-Ra logo on them. Now I knew exactly where I was. I was in the Shin-Ra infirmary. As a Turk prone to injury, I was here often; usually getting treated for any injuries that have occurred in the line of duty.

I lifted my right hand up to my head. There was a bandage wrapped tightly around it. Must have banged my head up pretty bad, I could feel the stitches from recent surgery. Other than that, I think I was okay. I released a silent sigh and made another attempt to sit up. The pain was intense, but I managed through it. I glanced around the room slowly, looking for the assistant button that summoned a nurse. I located it on the wall next to my bed, but just when I was about to push it, a nurse came in. Her expression was nothing short of worried and concerned as she stared at me.

"Oh dear," she said worried. "You shouldn't be sitting up, let alone awake."

She rushed over to my side and pressed the palm of her hand over my forehead. She then placed them on my shoulders and gently tried to lay me back down, but I wasn't having any of it. There was only one thing on my mind right now and I was determined to get the answer. I placed my hand over hers and looked her straight in the eye.

"Where are my comrades?" I asked her in all seriousness.

When she didn't answer me right away, I began to worry. She released my shoulders slowly and took a few steps back. "Well…Lieutenant Rude Darius is in the next room over." She said a little nervously.

I released a sigh as the panic began to subside. "Is he okay?" I questioned. She nodded her head in assurance.

"He will be." She said softly.

I furrowed my brows down in misunderstanding. "What do you mean by 'he will be'?" I asked skeptically.

"Well…when you two arrived via helicopter, Lieutenant Darius was in very bad shape. He had a severely twisted arm, several broken ribs and a glass fragments embedded into his back."

My heart sunk as I heard what had happened to my friend. Although I was in poor condition, it was nothing compared to Rude's misfortune. With saddened eyes, I looked up at the woman. I wanted to ask her if I could see him, but I knew deep down I wouldn't have been able to stand seeing Rude like that. I closed my eyes and clenched my fists tight. I felt responsible for what happened to him. I didn't even know how long he had been in that condition.

I didn't remember anything from the accident, so I must have been unconscious for all of it. Suddenly I opened my eyes. I looked up at the nurse with confusion and frustration evident in my expression.

"How…how long have I been asleep for?"

She walked over to me and sat down on the bed. Gently, she grasped my pale hands within her own.

"You've been asleep for six days." She said gently.

"Six days!" I yelled, causing my head to throb in the process. She nodded her head and stood up.

"Please, you need to lie down and rest." She said; worried I was getting too worked up.

"Rest! I've been asleep for six damn days; I don't need any more rest!" I said as I started to grow angrier. She grasped my shoulders and tried to push me back down, but I swatted her away. I couldn't believe I'd been out for that long. That beat the previous record of when I had been knocked out for three days. She looked down at me with empathetic eyes and touched my shoulder gently.

"Please, lie down." She asked softly. I grunted in response, but did as she asked. Also, I was starting to feel lightheaded from sitting up to long. I relaxed back into the bed and closed my eyes.

"Thank you," she said through a small smile. "Now you just rest and soon you'll be able to go back to work."

"Yeah, whatever." I said evenly.

She fluffed my pillows and adjusted my head before heading towards the door. With one last concerned look at me, she exited the room.

There was no way I could go back to sleep now, I was nowhere near tired. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling, pondering. My teammates were alive, and for that I was grateful. We had all survived the attack and once we were healed, we would seek out and kill the bastard who did this. I tightened my fists at the thought. I hadn't realized how mad I was until now. We were almost killed by that blast and if it hadn't been for Tseng's quick thinking, we'd all be dead.

Speaking of Tseng, I needed to thank him. What little I did remember before the accident was mostly of him; trying to keep me calm and focused. A subtle smile began to form across my face as I thought about him. He really was amazing. I remember panicking and Tseng's smooth, soothing voice guiding and directing me. Although I knew he had to be scared to, he kept his head clear. It was a quality of his that I desired to acquire someday.

Spurred on by my desire to speak to my boss, I reached my arm up and hit the assistant button. I saw it blink red and I waited for her to come. The door opened shortly after. I lifted my head up slightly and was relatively surprised to see the President and his son. My eyes went wide. Although I worked for him, it was rare for me to see President Shinra. That was usually Tseng's forte. I did work with Vice-President Rufus enough to form a sort of friendship with him. Rufus did come off as a bitch, but after you got to know the guy, he ain't so bad.

However, Rufus and Tseng were very close. Tseng was with the young heir often, protecting and guarding him in his travels. Also, Tseng had taught Rufus the fine art of handling a gun, a skill Rufus was most proud of. Rufus had grown quite attached to the Commander, so much that he always requested Tseng to be with him on his endeavors. I knew Rufus was sort of infatuated with Tseng and for that that I couldn't fault him, considering I liked him as well; though I doubt that anything was going on between then.

As I stared at him though, I noticed something was off. The pompous smile he usually wore on his face was nowhere to be found, and he looked uneasy. The President had a plain uninterested expression on his plump face. I stared at them in confusion. Rufus approached me until he was standing next to my bed. I slowly turned my head to look up at him, careful of my stitches. Now that he was closer, I could see he had a somber, almost sad look in his pristine blue eyes. I was growing annoyed with the silence so I decided to speak first.

"Is something wrong?" I asked anxiously.

Rufus bit his lip and quickly turned his head away from me, which even further deepen my suspicion. He glanced up at his father, who in return nodded his head. Rufus turned his attention back to me and suddenly placed his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm afraid there is, Reno." He said in a low, distressing voice. I furrowed my brows at him. "I know you just woke up from a coma, but I don't think you would have wanted to hear this any later."

My heartbeat was starting to quicken. I've never seen Rufus like this and it was starting to scare me. Also, he made it very clear that what he was about to tell me was something I probably didn't want to hold off hearing. I nodded my head for him to continue. He bit his lip and closed his eyes momentarily before speaking.

"Reno, I'm sure you've been informed of Rude's condition and of how you arrived here, yes?" He asked.

"Well, yeah."I said evenly. "The nurse had told me that Rude and I arrived here in pretty bad shape on a helicopter."

"Yes, well…, I don't know how to say this but, you and Rude were the _only _two we picked up from the site." He said heavy-heartedly.

I didn't comprehend what he had said at first, and I stared blankly at him. What the hell did he mean by, "the only two"? I closed my eyes and reviewed what he had just said to me. Suddenly, I remembered what the nurse had said to me.

_Well…when you two arrived via helicopter, Lieutenant Darius was in very bad shape. _

I hadn't caught it at the time, but she had said "_you two_".

_You two._

_You two…_

Then realization hit me. My eyes went wide and I bolted up. The white bed sheets went flying up and off the bed. I didn't feel any pain as my adrenaline compensated for it. I grabbed Rufus by the suit and yanked him down to my level with all my might. My hands were quivering, my heart was racing, my mind focused only on one thing. Rufus frightened blue eyes were as wide as mine in shock. My lips were quivering as I tried to form the words I didn't want to speak, but had no choice.

"Where is Tseng?" I said; my voice quivering and shaky.

When Rufus didn't answer me right away, I automatically assumed the worst had befallen my fallen comrade. A single tear began to form in the corner of my eye. I tried my best to keep it from falling, but it was eventually released. It streamed down the side of my cheek, leaving behind a wet trail in its wake.

"We don't know where he is."Rufus said softly.

"I…don't understand. He was with us when the car crashed." I said; still in denial.

"The report says there was no sign of him. No body, no…nothing."

I was getting upset. "That doesn't make any sense! He was there with us!"

"Look Reno, when the rescue crew arrived at the scene, they only found you and Rude on the side of the road. According to the reports, it seems you were placed there purposely."

"Purposely?"

"Yes. The bridge was completely gone, along with anything on it." I could hear his voice quivering with suppressed emotion. He wanted to look strong in front of his father, but he could only take so much, especially when it came to Tseng. "We conducted a search for him, but came up with nothing. After a week of searching, he's been reported as MIA."

Oh No. The status of missing was something I did not what to hear ever in regards to my teammates. To me, being confirmed as missing was just as bad if not worse than being confirmed dead with an actual visible body. When someone went missing, it could mean that they were taken hostage and are being tortured and imprisoned. It could mean they were trapped somewhere and doomed to a slow horrible death. But the worst case scenario was that they were dead and you'd never really know for sure, or that they were still alive and needed help, and you'd still never know.

Slowly, I allowed for my grip on Rufus' jacket to slip. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes and I turned my head away from his gaze. I didn't want them to see me cry, and I covered my eyes with my hands. I let the tears flow as I caught them in my cupped hands. Sadness and guilt enveloped me as I cried for my missing comrade. I felt Rufus place a comforting hand on my back, and then I heard him sob. He and Tseng had been so close and Rufus had become so attached to him. I could only imagine how he reacted when he first heard the news.

Rufus gripped me harder as his sobs increased. Tseng had been his protector, his mentor and his friend. I had the urge to hold him in my arms, but I've never been the comforter. So I let him cry on my shoulder. His warm tears seeped through my hospital gown as their quantity amplified. We remained like that for a while, with Rufus sobbing on my shoulder and me crying in my hands. I was just in such disbelief. And when Rufus had said that Rude and I were placed safely across the bridge, I knew it was Tseng who had done it.

After what seemed like ages, our cries died down. Rufus pulled back away from me and I stared into his tragic blue eyes. There was so much sorrow conveyed in them. I wiped my hand across my eyes, trying to dry my tear streaked face. Rufus was doing the same as his father approached us. I had forgotten he was even here. The President place a chubby hand on his son's shoulder.

"Rufus, I need to have a word with Reno." He said sharply.

Rufus nodded his head in understanding. He glanced back at me before standing up. "Thank you." He said to me barely above a whisper. I nodded my head in response. He gave my shoulder a hard squeeze before leaving the room. The President shut the door promptly behind him and I figured that whatever he had to tell me was important. He stood at the foot of my bed and stared me right in the eye. Unlike his son, President Shin-Ra did not seem overwhelmed with emotion for our missing comrade, nor did he appear upset in anyway. It could have been a façade ,but I didn't know.

"Reno, as of right now you have been promoted to the position of the Commander of the Turks." He said evenly.

My jaw-dropped and my eyes went wide. Had I heard him correctly? Did he just promote me to Tseng's position? That can't be. I stared at him dumbfounded and stunned. Me, the Commander of the Turks? I closed my eyes and tilted my head down. I honestly didn't know how to respond. Part of me was deeply sadden by the proposal because if further admitted the reality of Tseng's disappearance. The other part of me was enraged by it. How dare he replace Tseng so quickly! As Turks, we give everything we have for this job, even at the cost of our own lives. We comprise so many people and emotions, just to get the job done and all of a sudden we're replaceable, just like that. Just because he was missing, did not mean he was dead.

My rage was welling up and I tightened my fists. I have never been this mad at someone in my life. I gritted my teeth and shot him a heated glare. He took a cautions step back, which was very smart because my first instinct was to knock him the fuck out. Instead, I settled for slamming my fist into the bad. Hot tears were streaming down my face again, this time because of my anger.

"I refuse." I said through gritted teeth, and teary eyes.

The President curled his lips back into what seemed like the beginnings of a snarl. "You can't refuse. You're the next in line for the spot. You are the Commander!"

"The hell I am!" I yelled enraged. "I will not take Tseng's position when there's a possibility he could still be alive!"

"Reno, you know as well as I do that when a Turk goes MIA, the chances of them returning are slim to none. Tseng is most likely dead and the sooner you admit it, the sooner things can go back to normal in the Turks. Now take some initiative and take the damn position!"

"Fuck you, you fat bastard!" I was so mad I could feel my face turning red with rage. He had written Tseng off as dead and he didn't even care. I knew it probably wouldn't be in my best interest to mouth off to him, but logic didn't come into play when regarding Tseng, ever.

He pointed his chubby finger at me and flared his nostrils. "Don't you ever talk to me that way you scrawny piece of shit! I fucking own you and the Turks! You will do as I command!"

I was done talking. I rolled my eyes at him and lay back down. I pulled the cover over me and completely shut him out. He scowled at my defiance and stomped off in a mad fury. I heard him exit and slam the door behind him. Finally, I was alone again. I curled up under the covers and closed my eyes. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, especially with Tseng on the brain.

I couldn't believe he was missing, but nothing would lead me to believe that he was dead. Something just told me that there was no way he died, and that's what scared me the most. If he wasn't dead, then where the hell was he?

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**Please review and let me know what you think! Thank you!**

**Btw, look for a beta.**


	5. Chapter 5

Wonderland Fallout

**Tseng's POV **

_Pain…_

_Throbbing pain…_

_Cold…wet…_

These were the only sensations I could feel and judging by the agonizing pain I felt in my spine, I knew I was positioned on my back. I slowly opened my eyes, which also turned out to be a painful endeavor as I lifted my sore lids.

The sky was bleeding red. Its crimson blood poured onto my face and down the side of my cheeks. I could feel the red hot liquid flowing down my face. I could taste its metallic fluid pooling in my mouth until it seeped over my lips, unable to contain the overflowing liquor.

It was only when I coughed and almost chocked on my own blood, that I realized it was mine. The sky was not red; my eyes were covered in blood. There wasn't a skyline in Midgar and I stared up at the massive plate.

As my senses slowly returned, so did the pain. My right leg was broken; I could feel that. My left arm was broken, with the wrist shattered. My head was throbbing and bleeding. And my back, although miraculously not broken, was indeed in excruciating pain. I tried to move the fingers of my other hand, and found that I was laying on something soft as my fingers grazed the surface.

A mattress? I would have smiled if I could. A dirty old mattress that had been tossed out had saved my life. Also, the small amount of mako I had coursing through my veins had given me the strength to survive the fall. I dug my fingers into the firm, but plush surface of the mattress. It was wet, probably with my blood. With all the strength I could muster in my right arm, I lifted my fingers up to my face. My fingertips were stained red, confirming my assumption. I let my arm fall effortlessly to the side.

My ears popped. With all the pain I was in I didn't even notice that I couldn't hear. Noises and sounds flooded into my ears. I could hear the faint sound of my breathing, the dripping of a broken water pipe, and in the distance, people screaming. We weren't the only ones on the bridge when it was bombed. I could hear people screaming in pain or crying over a loved one. I wish I couldn't hear again.

I closed my eyes, but as soon as I did, visions of my comrades flooded into my head. Reno… Rude…I hoped they were okay. Reno's face lingered longer in my head. And this time, I did smile. The redheaded Turk had somehow wormed his way into my heart. I loved him dearly, although it didn't seem like I did. It was a front I had to put on in order to retain professionalism. I was the leader of the Turks, and knew that it was not possible for me to have a relationship with a subordinate.

It was an unwritten rule of the Turks and had been ever since the Turks were formed. Never fall in love with each other. I remember when my mentor, Verdot, had told me that. He said it was dangerous and life threatening if a Turk were to fall in love with another. I hadn't understood at first, until I had witnessed it firsthand. The death of a Turk due to the emotional attachment to the other. I was only fifteen when I had saw them die, but even at that young age it wasn't the first time I had witnessed death. But there was something different about the way they died.

Tai and Sera. Those were their names. Verdot had used them as an example to all of us. Their death was horrible. On a mission gone wrong, Sera had been captured and tortured. We had managed to save her, but it was gruesome. I remember helping Tai carry her to the helicopter when she suddenly regained consciousness. Immediately she informed us that they had placed a bomb inside of her. She pleaded for us to leave her behind, and we did. It was the most logical thing to do, seeing as how we didn't know when the bomb would go off.

However, Tai would not leave her. No matter how much Verdot and the other Turks pleaded with him to get into the helicopter. Finally we descended up without him. I watched through the window as he held her close and gave her on last kiss before the bomb went off, leaving behind nothing but a large bloodstained outline. I remember crying as we continued up into the sky. Verdot placed his large hands on my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes before speaking to me, but loud enough for everyone in the helicopter to hear.

"_That's what happens, when Turks fall in love."_

It was at that moment I decided I would never let myself fall prey to that fate. Unfortunately, I broke my word the next year. That was when Reno had joined the Turks. He was a year younger than me and incredibly gorgeous. He annoyed me a lot, but it was all in good fun. I had always convinced myself that there nothing more than friendship between us, and that I was only attracted to his looks. But as the years waned on, I found myself thinking about him more and more. I even, dreamed of him. It was when I had my first erotic dream about him that I decided I would have to be only his friend. Nothing more.

So I began to harden my heart to him, ignoring his signs of obvious attraction to me. Of course he still knew that I cared about him and his safety, but strictly on a we're "just friends" basis. But as much as I tried to push him out of my heart, I couldn't. And before I knew it, I had fallen in love with him. And when I became the Leader of the Turks, I tried everything I could to keep him from interfering with my work. But every now and then I found myself just thinking about him.

And even now, as I lay in my own blood in pain, I am still thinking of him. His cocky attitude, his quarrelsome ways, the way he grins right before he does something he knows will piss me off. I smiled at the last thought.

Suddenly, I felt very lightheaded, and I realized that I'm losing too much blood. I was going to bleed to death. I closed my eyes slowly, on the verge of losing consciousness. And still, I can only think of him.

"Reno." I croaked out with a mouthful of blood. My last word as I let the darkness consume me.

…

To my surprise, I awoke. I opened my eyes slowly. There was a ceiling fan whirling around, I could feel it's cool air blowing on my face. The room was very dim and there wasn't much in it. I turned my head to my right, where a night stand was next to the bed. Atop of the table, there was a role of bandages and a first aid kit. I could feel the bandages around my head, left arm and right leg. The bones had all been set. I was very confused and had no idea where I was.

I heard footsteps on the other side of the door. They were approaching and I would soon get my answer. The door creaked as it opened slowly. A woman with pretty features and dark hair poked her head in. She approached the bed and gasped once she saw my eyes were open and alert.

"Oh my! You're awake!" She said surprised.

I didn't speak, only stared at her in confusion. She re-approached the bed and placed a delicate hand on my forehead.

"Your temperature is a bit high, but that's to be expected…after what you've been through." She said somberly. "How do you feel? Can you speak?" she questioned.

"Where am I?" My voice was dry, and raspy.

She smiled. "Well, you're in my house, located in the sector five slums."

"The…slums?"

The woman nodded her head and she poured me glass of water. She placed the glass to my lips and I drank slowly. The water was warm, but as I knew from experience, cold water was luxury in the slums. I drank my fill and she pulled the cup away. She then proceeded to check my bandages.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name's Cloral. I work at the clinic down the street, but the place is packed. So I brought you here. I'm sorry I don't have a cure to use on you, but this is the best I can do at the moment."

I nodded my head in understanding. She tightened my bandages with little pain. As she worked, I slowly began to drift off. I closed my eyes and let her work. From having lived in the slums, I knew that the kindness she was showing was rare indeed. Most people would have never welcomed me into their homes so open heartedly and I was grateful for her compassion. Once she was finished with my bandages, she rose to leave.

"Please, try and get some rest." She said softly. I nodded my head in response. Then she left, shutting the door behind her.

I was soon asleep within a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, my rest was to be short lived as I awoke to the sound of yelling. It was a man's voice. He was fighting with Cloral, who was trying to get him to calm down. Sadly, it wasn't unusual to hear couples fighting and arguing in the Slums. In fact, when I lived here, the sounds of fighting and yelling were so commonplace it was like ambiance. I was going to ignore their banter, and I closed my eyes in another attempt to sleep. But the fight was increasingly getting louder, I could hear everything.

"_Why can't we!" The man yelled._

"_Please, Dean, keep your voice down. There's an injured man resting in the next room." She pleaded._

"_I don't give a shit! We haven't done it in forever!"_

So it was about sex…typical male. I thought.

"_I'm sorry Dean, but this man needs my full attention."_

"_It's always about everyone else but me!"_

"_Look, you haven't even been home in days. I never know where you're going, or what you're doing." She said sharply._

"_It's none of your damn business! Besides, I'm here now and I want to fuck my gal! Is that too much to ask!" He yelled._

"_I'm sorry, but I can't right now. I…"_

SLAP!

I heard the impact and the fall. Immediately I went on alert. He had struck her and she was crying.

"_If you would just give me what I want then I wouldn't have to hurt you!" He yelled._

She continued to cry.

"_Stop your blubbering and take your clothes off."_

When she didn't comply, he hit her again. My anger was increasingly rising. This woman had done everything she could to heal me; she even let me in her home. This man had no right to strike her. I could hear him approaching her, his breathing heavy and labored. I had to do something, so I called out.

"Hey, Dean! Leave the woman alone you sick fuck!" That should get his attention. And it did.

The man cursed and roughly opened the door. He glared in my direction, but it was obvious he couldn't see me in the dimly lit room. He was a fairly big man, with shoulder length dark hair and intense dark eyes. With the door open, I could see Cloral walling in pain. She was holding her face and side. I fixed my glare on Dean. Although I was in no position to fight, I could not let him continue to hit her.

"What did you say to me you little bastard!" The thunderous man yelled.

"I said leave her alone. She's done nothing to you." I replied sharply.

Dean scowled and angrily approached my bed. "Why you son of a bit―" was all he managed to get out before he set his eyes on me. His dark, red rimmed eyes went wide with shock. He took a few steps back until his back hit the wall.

"Oh shit." The man swore. He ran out the room and turned his attention to Cloral. "What the fuck is he doing here?" He yelled at the top of his lungs. When she didn't answer him, he grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her up to his level.

"You stupid bitch! Do you even know who that man is?" She shook her head. "He's a fucking Turk!"Her eyes went wide in shock.

Fucking hell! He had recognized me, which meant I had probably crossed this guy before. Especially if he was gang affiliated, and judging by his tattoos, I knew he was. Shit. I was in trouble.

Suddenly, the man left the house and left Cloral sobbing on the floor. I made another attempt to get up, but the pain in my back was too great. I needed to get out of this house. My life was in serious danger. There were several gangs in this area that had it out for the Turks. Judging by the tattoos on the man's arm, I would say he was with the Serpentines. They were the gang that worked with Don Corneo; his security force.

Cloral came into the room on wobbly legs. She had a huge purple bruise on her cheek and was holding her side. Slowly, she made her way over to me. She grabbed my good arm and tried to pull me up. I hissed at the pain, but I knew it was necessary. Cloral wasn't a strong woman, but she tried her best to lift me up. Once I was upright and on solid ground, I instantly felt lightheaded. I leaned against her for support, trying my best not to put too much of my weight on her.

We had just made it halfway to the door when Dean came back, and he wasn't alone. He had brought several of his guys with him. They rushed into the house and surrounded us. Cloral tightened her grip around my waist in defense, but I knew it was useless. She had done all she could to help.

"Cloral," I began, "Thank you for all you've done for me." I turned my head slightly to look upon her worried face. "Now please, let me go. I do not want you to get hurt."

"But…they'll kill you." She said with a heavy heart.

"It's alright, just please let me go. Go somewhere safe."

Dean approached us slowly, with a menacing look in his dark eyes. Cloral was reluctant to leave me alone with them.

"Go!" I yelled at her. Finally, she released me from her grip and ran out of the house. Her husband paid her no mind, as she ran past him. As soon as she had released me, my body collapsed onto the ground. I couldn't support myself with a broken leg. They laughed as I hit the ground.

"Looks like he was on the bridge when it blew up." Dean commented as he enclosed on me.

I was in a very vulnerable position. First off, there were eight of them, including Dean, and only one of me. Secondly, I was wounded and could barely stand. In other words, I was thoroughly fucked. I'd never thought I'd die this way, in a meaningless gang fight. It wasn't right. This wasn't the way I wanted to go.

Dean leaned down over me and roughly grabbed my face. I shot daggers at him with my eyes. "Well, what should we do with him boys?" He said derisively.

They laughed simultaneously, like automatic drones. "I say we kill em'!" One yelled. "No, I think we should beat the shit out of him!" They all cheered.

"Nawl, Nawl," Dean said in his slum drawled accent, "To easy." He roughly grabbed me by my suit jacket and yanked me up off the floor. I resisted the urge to cry out from the pain. He tossed me onto the hard, scratchy couch. He signaled for his guys to get closer, and they soon surrounded me. Then I knew I was in serious trouble when Dean gave me a wide toothed grin.

"Look at his face. We could make a pretty penny off him. Sell em' to the right buyer." He sneered. Their grins widened.

"Yeah you're right Dean, good thinking!" They all cheered and hollered. Dean waved his hands to calm them down.

"Of course," He said turning his attention back to me. "I can't let you go without anything happening to you. I got a reputation to uphold." He said through a wide, sniveling grin.

Once again, his crew cheered in agreement. He leaned down close behind my ear and roughly grabbed my shoulders. I bit my lip to keep from hissing at the pain. His scraggily dark hair brushed against my cheek as his thin lips touched my ear, his breath hot against my face.

"You're gorgeous, prettier than my gal." He said huskily. He snaked his tongue out and took a swift lick at my ear. I repelled and tried to jerk my head away from him, which received amused laughter from his gang.

"Well fellas," He said maliciously. "Why don't we have a little fun with em' before we sell em' off."

They hooted and hollered in obvious approval. I hid the fear from my face, but I was panicking on the inside. I closed my eyes and tried to drown out their howls. My world had been turned upside down and there was little I could do to stop it. But I wasn't going down without a fight. I was physically drained, but I wasn't going to just let them have their way with me without resistance. I would try and defend myself until I couldn't.

I wouldn't give up, no matter how indifferent the odds seemed.

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**Reviews are greatly appreciated and keep me inspired! Thank you!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Warnings apply in this chapter. **

**No beta.**

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Wonderland Fallout 

**Tseng's POV**

They surrounded me, wide grins of approval obvious on their faces. I inwardly swore. This was not good, but all hope was not loss. On my left leg, I had a knife strapped to it underneath my pant leg. I could feel the warm metal against my skin. Surprisingly, the little object hadn't pierced my leg in the fall. With that being my only weapon, I had to figure out how to get to it without them noticing. Unfortunately, that meant I would have to wait until they were distracted.

Dean, who I assumed to be the highest ranking thug among them, approached me from behind. I was still laid out on the couch, with my head lying upon the armrest. My long dark hair spilled over the side, almost touching the floor. The scraggily haired man reached for my suit jacket, and slowly began to slide it down my shoulders. A few men whistled at the motion and Dean laughed against my ear. He roughly pushed my upper body into a sitting position, so that he could completely remove the hindering jacket. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes from the pain that shot up through my spine from the upward motion.

Wasting no time, Dean went for the top button of my bloodstained white collared shirt. However, the buttons on my shirt were too tiny for his large hands to undue without a struggle. And after a few minutes of struggling, he let out a frustrated growl and ripped my shirt open; buttons went flying everywhere. The gang of miscreants jeered and yelled out suggestive comments. He grabbed the folds of my shirt and pulled it apart, exposing more of my well formed torso. Dean grinned as he reached a hand from behind me and caressed my chest. I released a sound of dissatisfaction, which was drowned out by their loud jeering.

"Well," Dean said slyly, "Who wants to go first?"

In an impressively uneducated move, they all charged me at the same time. My heart rate increased dramatically as their hands started to touch my body. Everything was happening to fast, and I suddenly felt myself being pulled off the couch and onto a shag carpet. I bit my lip to keep from crying out at the blinding pain that surged through my body. They pushed and shoved each other violently, each man wanting to go first. Maybe if I was lucky, they'd kill each other before they got to me. But I wasn't to be so fortunate.

"Hey, hey, hey! You dumb fucks!" Shouted Dean above the rest.

They stopped their fighting and turned their attentions to him. Seizing the opportunity when they were all distracted, I lifted my left leg and pulled up my pant. I quickly slipped the knife out of its hold and slipped it into my sleeve. Just in time too.

"You can't do anything without this right fellas?" Dean said slyly. From my angle I couldn't see what object he was referring to, but whatever it was it got the men riled up. The cheered and suddenly came running back to where I was. One guy accidently stepped on my broken leg, which did cause me to hiss in pain. Suddenly, a big blond man grabbed at the hem of my pants. He unclasped my belt and then tried to go for my zipper. That's when I struck.

With the knife firmly in my good hand, I quickly brought it around and stabbed the man in his thick neck. He screeched in surprise and his expression went from a look of lust to horror within a matter of seconds. As soon as I withdrew the knife from his meaty neck, blood spurted out in copious amounts. He backed away from me, holding his neck and gasping for breath.

"Where did he get the knife from?" One yelled.

"Oh Shit!" Another swore as they watched their blond comrade collapse onto the ground.

They rushed to their fallen friend's aid. Meanwhile, I wiped the bloodied knife onto the carpet. I heard the man gasp his last breath and it suddenly went silent. Dean rushed over and checked the man's pulse.

"Fucking shit!" Dean swore. "He's dead."

They all turned their attention back to me. Their faces, once full of lust, now reflected hatred. Only Dean seemed composed. They kept their distance from me, as no one approached. I grinned. A wounded Turk could still be just as dangerous.

"You little shit." Dean said, with an amused undertone. "It's seems we underestimated you." He looked to his dead teammate. "Tres, Malcolm, you guys get Jured's body out of here." They nodded in unison and began to carry out his request. The blond man, whose name appeared to have been Jured, was entirely too heavy to be carried, so they had to drag him out of the tiny home, leaving a trail of fresh blood it his wake. Once he was gone and out of the way, they all turned their attentions to me. I must admit, it did give me a sort of sick pleasure to know that I'd had taken one of them down, although I was injured. Only five of them remained, seeing as one of them was dead with the other two assisting him.

Dean smiled, which I found very unsettling. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bronze hourglass. I inwardly swore. The small hourglass he had was an item that I was well acquainted with. Although I used materia now, when I was first starting out, I more commonly used items. The hourglass had the same effect as the spell stop, although it didn't last as long.

He threw the vial at me and it exploded by my head. Immediately the fumes escaped from its confines. Unfortunately for me, the hourglass attack item did not have to be inhaled in order for it to take effect, and I soon began to feel the effect of the item. My body completely froze, and I couldn't move. Shit! This was not good.

Once the fumes had dissolved, and it was clear that I was paralyzed, they finally approached me. In his anger, one of the gang members kicked me in the ribs. I would have cried out at the explosive pain if I could, but the stop item prevented speech. He kicked me again and again, rage evident in his intense and wild glare. Another man, with a shaved head and fierce blue eyes, removed the knife from my grasp, making sure to slice the palm of my hand as he slowly removed it; a sly grin on his face.

Blood seeped from my sliced hand and pooled until it overflowed onto the carpet. Dean laughed deep and hearty, with a condescending tone. He approached me with malicious intent, evident in his expression. The man who was kicking me in the ribs, ceased once Dean held a halting hand to him. Without warning, Dean dropped all his weight done onto my stomach. Again, I would have cried out if I had been able to, but the pain was evident in my eyes. The scraggily dark haired man's grin widened.

"Well, Shin-Ra scum, you're gonna have to pay for what you did. Killing you would be too nice a gesture, although there are a few here who are asking for your blood." As if on cue, the remaining guys surrounded me. They all had their weapons of choice with them, most consisting of a crowbar or and metal pipe. Dean leaned down close to my face. His breath reeked of burning garbage, and the unpleasant smell drew up into my nostrils.

He snaked his tongue out and licked it across the side of my face. It made bile rise up to my throat. He moaned in approval and before he drew back. With a gesture of his hand, he ordered them to restrain me. I didn't understand why, until I started to feel the effects began to slowly wear off. Both of my arms and legs were restrained by a total of four men, one on each appendage. Dean went for the top of my slacks and unzipped them.

The other two men, who were holding my legs, took it upon themselves to remove my dark socks; though I don't know why. Slowly, Dean began to slide my pants down my hips, succeeding where the other man had lost his life. In one fluid motion, he whipped them off, tossing them to the side. I was starting to regain movement in my legs and I began buck my left leg in resistance. But the man held it firmly, and dug his nails into my thighs to keep me from moving.

I hissed at the pain. Dean smiled at me. "Well Turk, since you so kindly killed off Jured; I'll have to fuck you twice as hard for his sake."

I tried to hide the fear from my face, but the apprehension was evident in my eyes. Seemingly all at once, I could move. Immediately, I began to struggle. Adrenaline allowing me temporary relief from my injures. I thrashed around frantically, but they were strong and held me down. Dean laughed as I struggled to break free, knowing it was futile. I thrashed and bucked wildly, growing more desperate by each passing minute.

"Damn he's strong!" The bald guy holding my right unbroken arm commented through gritted teeth.

Dean smiled maliciously, and then slapped me, hard. I felt my lip split and swell, blood seeped from my cut. He grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back. I hissed at the pain in my neck and head from the rough action. Then I felt his mouth descend upon mine, more like I smelt it. He was smart by not sticking his tongue in, because I would have bitten through it without a second thought. He moved his thin lips atop mine's and took my swollen bottom lip in his mouth. He held my head back firmly, ensuing that I wouldn't be able to bit him.

I was disgusted as he kissed me and I tried to break free of their hold again. They laughed at me and it made me enraged. I began to thrash with increased vigor, although it did no good. Dean twirled his tongue around my lips before removing them. Without thinking, I spat in his face. He wiped my spit from his face angrily and flung it to the side.

"You disgusting little piece of shit." He hissed. I would have felt slightly satisfied if it weren't for what happened next. Dean stood up and kicked me in my broken leg. I bit my lip and resisted the urge to cry out due to the intense pain. He kicked me again and again in the same spot. I was in so much pain I was starting to see dark spots. Finally, he stopped kicking me, though the pain still remained. Even though I had my eyes closed, I could sense he was standing over me.

"You know," He began in a mocking tone. "I'm gonna have ta punish ya." He said in his slum drawled accent. "Flip em' over, ass up." He said sharply.

The four men restraining me successfully flipped me over onto my stomach. The two guys at my feet, made sure I was on my knees, effectively raising my ass up in the air, while my face was pressed into the shag carpet. Dean laughed, before he grabbed the hem of my black silk boxers that rose high upon my thighs. I gasped into the carpet when he yanked them down, exposing my genitals. A flush found its way to my cheeks from sheer embarrassment.

"Mmm." Moaned Dean at the sight, the two men holding my legs doing the same. "I don't think I've ever been this turned on by a guy before. You should consider yourself lucky."

Lucky Indeed. I thought sarcastically.

Then I felt his hands upon me, and I froze. It was as if they had cast a stop spell on me. He began to caress my ass cheeks, rubbing his large hands over them and down to my cock. He wrapped his hands around it and gave it a tug. I bit my lip to hold my surprise. Dean snickered as he leaned down to plant a kiss on the right cheek. I could feel the bile rising up in my throat again. He suddenly removed himself from my nether regions and disappeared into another room, apparently searching for something. He returned shortly with an object, but I couldn't see it from my angle. But whatever it was, it made his comrades chuckle.

"Eh, Dean?" The guy holding my left leg spoke. "Are we gonna get ta have a turn wit em'?"

"Of course, fellas. Just be patient. I gotta punish em' and break em' in for ya'll." Dean said slyly.

I heard some rustling behind me and it was starting to make me nervous. Dean came from behind me until he was right beside my face. I glared at him, which made him smile. Sick bastard.

"Well Turk, I thought of a fitting punishment for you." He said slyly. "Ya know, when I was in school, my teacher would hit us with a ruler if we were ever to do something so disgusting as spit on another student."

Suddenly, a metal yard stick was shown to me. "Quite fitting, don't you think?" He said sarcastically, making his comrades laugh. He rose up and returned to his standing position behind me. Oh shit, He wasn't going to do what I think he was?

"Brace yourself." Was all the warning I got before he hit me in the ass with that damn metal yard stick. It stung horribly, and he didn't give much recovery time either. The hits were hard and successive. I knew I would have red rectangular mark on my bottom from the harsh blows. Once again, I bit my lip to hold in the grunts of discomfort. Blood flowed from my lips as my cut was forced open even more. His hits were coming faster and more forceful. I flinched at every hit, which made the men holding me down laugh.

After a few minutes of whipping me with the metal ruler, he tossed it to the side and began slapping me on the ass with his bare hands. This surprising hurt more than the ruler did. He laughed maliciously, as he spanked me hard. There was no doubt in my mind that my ass wasn't hot pink. When he stopped hitting me, he groped my burning pink cheeks. Suddenly, he pulled my cheeks apart and I couldn't help but go open mouthed in surprise, although no sound was emitted. My face flushed a deep red.

"You have the cutest little pink asshole I've ever seen." He said derisively. I growled in disgust at his comment.

I heard a zipper being undone and I began to panic. He released a throaty moan as he released his already hard cock from his pants. A cap popped open and then there was a secreting of a liquid. Oh shit! I knew what was coming next and it sent a surge of fearful adrenaline through my body. I began to thrash violently, desperately trying to break free. Inwardly, I was crying out to my comrades to come save me, but I knew it was highly unlikely. I tried to push them from my mind. I felt so ashamed of myself for being in this situation, but I realized there wasn't much I could have done, what with a broken leg and arm, and then the pains of falling from a bridge.

He pressed the head of his slickened cock against my tiny unprepared hole. Oh Shiva…this couldn't be happening.

Slowly, he pressed forward. This time, I couldn't hold it in. I released a gasp of sudden horror as he painfully entered me. Oh…gods. I felt like I was being ripped in two as he pierced me. He pushed all the way in until I felt his balls slap against my skin. My breathing was heavy and ragged. The pain…the sharp pain raced up through my spine and dispersed throughout my body. I felt lightheaded and nauseous; my head was spinning from all the pain I was experiencing. The burning in my ass was the sensation most dominating right now.

I could hear them, laughing and taunting me. It must have been a dream come true for them, to be able to terrorize and exploit a Turk. I was just grateful for the fact that they didn't seem to know I was the Turk Leader. For if they knew, I would probably be in a worse condition than I am now.

He started to move. I gritted my teeth at the blistering pain. He began to pound into me with short powerful thrusts. His groans of pleasure reverberated through the room, drowning out the low grunts of agony I was making. I could feel warm blood dripping down my thighs, inferring that he had indeed torn something upon entering.

"Oh Fuuuuck," He groaned throatily. "You're so…fucking tight."He pulled out, almost all the way until viciously slamming back in. I couldn't hold back a cry of discomfort and pain. He increased his pace, and his moans intensified.

"You're…gonna enjoy this…guys." He said in between thrusts.

My broken leg was throbbing from having to use my knees as support. My arm was aching from the fucker that was holding it too tight. My whole body was in so much agony, I didn't know how much more I could take. As if an answer to my question, Dean reached out and grabbed my hair. He pulled it back so hard my head was lifted off the ground. Then I felt it, the wetness forming in my eyes and threatening to fall. Oh shit. No.

He continued to fuck my ass at a brutal pace, all while pulling my hair. My eyes went wide when I felt him grow larger inside me. My breathing was hitched and erratic, uneven. The four men holding me must have been getting anxious, because they started doing things to me. The guys holding my left and right leg started to nip and suck at my thighs. Their tongues slid up and down my legs, with an occasional bite to the soft skin.

The bald man holding my right arm was licking my shoulder blade, twirling his tongue around it. And the guy on my other arm actually had the audacity to start necking me! I felt like a common slum whore, being used and fucked for someone's pleasure. This had to be the absolute lowest point in my life. I blinked away tears of pain and closed my eyes. The possibility of pretending I wasn't here was not even possible at this moment.

Dean pulled my hair back with increased vigor as he pounded into me. I couldn't even bite my lip to stifle the groans of pain; most of the distressed sounds I was emitting were coming from deep within my throat. Suddenly, he slammed hard into me and released a loud throaty groan. He gripped my hair and yanked it back forcefully. His balls drew up against my skin and he threw his head back as he came inside me.

My eyes opened and my jaw dropped, a startled gasp escaped through my lips, although I didn't do anything to prevent it. His body quivered against mine as he rode out his orgasm. My inner muscles milked his flaccid cock for what it was worth before he pulled out. I resisted the urge to vomit as I felt blood, mixed with his come seep out of my raw asshole. He released a contented sigh before coming round to face me. The man hadn't even bothered to put his cock back in his pants as he stood in front of me. He leaned down to my level and roughly grabbed my chin. He yanked my head up to face him. He looked into my eyes and smiled.

"You're possible the best fuck I've had in a long, long time." He said condescendingly. I gritted my teeth at him, fury evident in my fierce gaze.

"Alright, boys, whose next?" he said through a smirk.

The guy who was holding my right broken leg didn't even wait for the invitation. He mounted me and suddenly thrust in. He set a rigorous, almost desperate pace as he pounded into me. The previous fluids that were emitted worked as lubricant, although it didn't make penetration hurt any less. I released a groan of frustration, and it didn't make it any better that Dean was right in front of my face, smiling wide as my emotions were obvious on my face.

As the night progressed on, each man had their way with me, and Dean actually went twice. When it had come to the bald man's turn, he said he wanted me on my back. They had flipped me over and I was fucked into the bloodied shag carpet. My back was in almost unbearable pain from having his weight on me. Tears were always in my eyes, but they never fell. Turks never cry. I never cry…ever. No matter how much pain I was in. But I sure as hell wanted to shed a tear tonight, but I didn't.

Finally, after they each had their fair share of fun, they left, but promised Dean they'd come back in a few hours to help sell me. I laid there on the shag rug, practically naked except for my white collared shirt, which they kept on the entire night. I was covered in blood and cum. I didn't even want to know what my ass looked like. Shame and anger were the most prominent emotions I was experiencing. I couldn't believe I had actually been gang raped.

My body was in so much pain and discomfort, I couldn't move a muscle. I felt wet, sticky and exposed. I didn't even have the strength to cover myself up. Dean laughed as he approached my broken and battered body. He leaned down close to my face, his dark scraggily hair flittered across my cheek. I didn't look at him, or even react when he kissed my cheek. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small syringe. A wide amused grin graced his thin lips as he injected me in the arm, drawing a small startled gasp from me.

Almost immediately, I began to feel tired. Dean tossed the sedative to the side and ran his fingers through my hair. I was disgusted at his touch and before I passed out, I glanced up at him and stared him right in the eyes. My gaze was vicious and fierce, promising death. He would not get away with this. I would end his life and those of his comrades. I kept my gaze locked onto his face, memorizing every detail about his face before the drug took effect. I would never forget his face, and I swore to myself that if I ever got the opportunity, I would wipe that smug look off his face and replace it with a look of agonizing pain and suffering.

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**Please leave a review before you go! And thanks to everyone who has review this story :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**I intended to post this last night but the FF site was down.**

**No beta. Sorry if there's errors. Please don't' hate me for it.**

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Wonderland Fallout 

**Reno's POV**

"I'm going."

"Reno, you can't."

"I can, and I will."

"You mustn't."

"I'm going."

"Reno, please, be reasonable."

"Don't tell me what to fucking do!" I snapped.

I turned around to face the startled blond I had been arguing with. Rufus made a face of distress and pinched the bridge of his nose. We'd been at this for at least half an hour. I plopped down on the white sofa situated in the corner of his office. I had just been released from the hospital ward about two hours ago. After being in there for two weeks, I was more than happy to leave. Two weeks lying in a bed tested my sanity. The silence was maddening and the boredom…oh the boredom, though Rufus did come visit often.

Also, being kept up for two weeks only deepened my brooding. When I wasn't watching boring daytime TV, I was thinking of my missing leader. Every time I tried to "get some rest" as the doctor had said, I would still see him, his face burned in my mind. Hell, I even dreamed about him. All I ever thought about was him. Where was he? Was he safe? Was he…

I often shook the negative thoughts away. There was no way I was going to accept the notion that Tseng could be dead. No. He was alive…somewhere. Of course, I still had Rude to worry about. He had woken up a few days ago, but he was still in bad shape. He had suffered severe damage from the accident and a cure/heal spell couldn't be used on him just yet. It was common knowledge that cure spells dissipated the natural healing process, so to use a cure so soon on his extensive wounds would hinder his natural ability to heal itself.

A cure could be used in a week at most, but I hoped he felt better sooner. I wanted Rude to go with me, but if he couldn't right away, then I was sure he would rejoin me later. Which leads me to why I was in Rufus' office. I needed his formal approval of my leaving to search for Tseng. The first thing I did when I was released from the hospital was write up a mission request form. It was the first time I was actually willing to do written work. In short, I requested that the search for The Turk commander be extended and commenced by the Turks. I knew the President wouldn't comply, so I went to the Vice-President, who also had direction over the Turks. He could authorize this case, and then I could be on my way, looking for Tseng.

Unfortunately, he hadn't approved of my request yet. I thought it would be easy enough to appeal to him, since we were friends after all; but it wasn't working out that way. He kept refusing my case, though he wouldn't give me a reason why. But he didn't have to vocalize it in order for me to sense his distress. As a Turk, I was highly trained in the art of perception, so it didn't take me long to figure out that he was miserable.

Actually, it didn't take a trained Turk to see that. Any average Joe on the street could have picked up on the troubled blonds' distress. His eyes had dark circles around them, and his complexion was dull, almost a pale grey. He obviously hadn't been getting much sleep. I turned my attention to him once more, pleading with my eyes for him to sign my request.

"Come on, Rufus. I need you to do this for me." I said pleadingly. The blond sighed and reached for something underneath his desk. I was mildly surprised to see a bottle of Hennessey. I knew Rufus drunk a bit, but never at work. He must be in a worse condition than I thought. Two glasses were pulled out from a drawer. He placed them on his desk and poured a generous amount in both glasses. He gestured for me to take the other one. I gladly accepted the drink. Rufus downed his impressively in a matter of seconds. He released a relieved sigh.

I sipped languidly at mine. I didn't exactly wasn't to be drunk right now. A pleasant buzz was all I needed. I glanced at Rufus who seemed more relaxed than before. He stared at me with sleep deprived eyes. Poor guy. Unlike me, Rufus was expected to be controlled and professional at all times. So he had to act as if Tseng's absence had been a just a minor setback, like his father would have wanted. He couldn't show any sign of weakness, lest he be reprimanded for it. I on the other hand, expressed myself anyway I wanted to and I didn't care who was watching. If I was angry, I cussed like sailor. If I was glad, I would more than happy tell everyone why I was, regardless of if they wanted to hear it or not. And if I was sad, then I would cry. I didn't cry often but when I did, it was usually for something serious.

Verdot, my mentor and the Commander before Tseng, always told me that I was a very animated person. My emotions were always prevalent on my face. I was like an open book he said, though he never reprimanded me for it. Verdot, on the other hand, had been a very closed off individual, and I think he may have passed that trait off to Tseng. Not that Tseng wasn't sociable, he just never told anyone what was wrong with him or if he had a problem. Hell, I didn't even know about his past or anything.

But that was how Tseng was. He had set rules for himself and the Turks. Such as, Turks never cry, or Turks never let their emotions conflict with duty. I had broken just about every one of his so called rules. I always let my emotions get the best of me, especially when it came to my comrades. If one of them got hurt on the job, I'd be furious and my actions would usually be vengeful and rash. And just a few days ago I had cried in front of the President, with his son weeping in my arms, and I couldn't care less. Though I felt sorry for Rufus because I know he was chastised for it.

His father could be so heartless, not caring about his son's feelings and then having the nerve to actually replace Tseng without an extensive search. I knew he'd totally disregard my request, so it was pointless to even present it to him. However, Rufus seemed highly skeptical of giving me permission to go as well. I took another sip of my drink before addressing him again.

"Rufus, why won't you let me go?" I asked him edgily.

The blond sighed once more. "I can't sign this Reno."

I resisted the urge to go off on him. "Why _can't _you?" I hissed out, with semi-controlled anger.

Rufus shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He poured himself another class and downed it. After his drink, the blond pushed my mission request to the side.

"I will not authorize this." He said sharply. I was on the verge of losing it. My fingers tapped ceaselessly on my leg, and outward sign of my frustration.

"Can you at least tell me why you won't?"

"I don't have to. You know why I cannot." He said evenly.

I snickered. "Oh I forgot. You're still scared of Daddy dearest."

He stood up at that. "I most certainly am not!" He shouted. I stood up as well and approached his desk. I leaned over until I was right in front of his face.

"Yes you are." I stated condescendingly.

"No I am not! It just wouldn't be in my best interest to go against him." He said matter-of-factly.

"In your best interest, eh?" I shook my head in disappointment. "You don't care about Tseng at all, you're just a selfish―."

I was cut off by an unexpected attempt to slap me in the face, but with my quick reflexes, I caught his arm before he landed the hit. He struggled in my tight grasp.

"Don't you dare say that I don't care about him!" He yelled.

"Then sign the damn paper so I can go look for him!" I snapped back.

"I can't!"

I was furious now, and could no longer hold back my anger. "Stop fucking saying that! You can, and you will!" I reflexively squeezed his arm tighter.

"Owe! Let go of my damn arm!" He winced.

"Sign the paper and let me go!" I said, ignoring his pleas for me to release his arm. I was beyond furious and it was taking every little control I had to not hit him and _make_ him sign it. What the hell was his problem? Didn't he care about Tseng? Didn't he want to look for the man he practically idolized? Was he just gonna give up so easily?

I released his arm and backed away from him. I ran the palm of my hand over my face and tried to calm down. Rufus rubbed his sore arm and glared at me. My head was throbbing from getting so worked up. Although the stitches in my head had been removed, the headaches still remained. I turned to Rufus once again, calmer than before.

"Look Rufus, Regardless of if you sign the assignment or not, I'm still going." I said softly.

The blond jumped up at that. "No! You can't leave!" He said as he approached me from around his desk. "You can't!"

"I can do whatever I damn well please." I said evenly. Rufus grabbed my suit jacket and yanked me closer to his face. I was just about to pull away, when I saw the wild look in his sharp, blue eyes. Fear, apprehension, and doubt stormed in his eyes, though he tried to keep his emotions at bay, I could see his desperation. They way his hands shook around my jacket, his lips quivered frantically and his pupils were dilated. He was scared, he really was.

"Please…please don't go Reno." His voice quivered. His fingers tightened around my suit jacket. I didn't know what to say. I honestly didn't. I wasn't used to Rufus acting like this. He was normally sharp, arrogant, and proud. That Rufus I could handle, but this new, unstable Rufus, I didn't know what to do with. It almost seemed as if Tseng had taken Rufus' sanity along with him. I stared in confusion at the troubled blond.

"Rufus…" was all I could manage out. He loosened his grip on my jacket and down casted his eyes.

"Reno," he said softly. "Please don't go. Don't leave me."

The gears I my head began rotating. Rufus wrapped his arms around my waist and closed his eyes. It wasn't the first time he'd hugged me, but it was different this time. It almost seemed as if he was, clinging onto me. Holding me in place as if to ground me, to keep me from going. To keep me by his side. He tightened his hold on me and laid his head on my shoulder. Then the gears in my head clicked. I immediately wrapped my arms around him as realization struck me.

"Rufus, I'm going to come back."

He shook his head. "But what if you don't? What if you disappear too, just like Tseng?"

I sighed. I wasn't very good at consoling people, but I would try my best. I pulled Rufus off me and grabbed him by his shoulder, holding him firm. I stared right into his pristine blue eyes and gave him a promising gaze of my own.

"I will come back, and when I do, I'll have Tseng right next to me. I promise you." I said reassuringly. Rufus bit his lip and shook his head again in disbelief. He tried to pull away from me, but I held him firm.

"Rufus, look at me." I ordered sharply. He lifted his gaze up to meet mine. "I promise you, I promise you I will return. I will bring Tseng back to us, but you have to let me go."

He contemplated for a bit, and I could see the clockwork interchanging through his mind. He grabbed my hands and pulled them off his shoulders. I watched him in apprehension as he slowly returned to his desk and pulled out the file. He opened it up and signed the request form without hesitation. Once signed and sealed, he carried the document over and handed it to me. I was surprised by his actions, but nonetheless pleased. I reached out to take the signed paper, but he quickly whipped it away from me. I shot him a confused look.

"If I let you go, you must be sure to keep me informed on your progress, and you must try to be safe." He said sharply.

I nodded my head. "Sure thing, yo." I said reaching out for the paper once more, only to have it withdrawn again. I groaned.

"And, you must take a partner with you."

"I know, I know. Sheesh! I may be an idiot, but I'm not fucking brain dead." I reached out for the file, and again he withdrew it. I scowled in annoyance. This was getting fucking redundant.

"And you must keep your promise to me." I raised a confused red brow at him. He handed the file to me and I grabbed it, but Rufus held onto it as well, not letting it go just yet. He looked me dead in the eye with all seriousness.

"Bring him back." His voice was strong and forward. He seemed more put together than I had seen him in weeks.

"Promise."

He released the end of the file and left it in my hands.

...

After getting permission from Rufus, I headed back to the hospital ward to tell Rude. I walked into his assigned room unannounced. He was lying on the bed watching boring daytime TV. It was all you really could do when recovering. I approached his bed and pulled up a stool to sit on. His arm was still in a cast and his torso was bandaged as well. Rude had had it the worse out of the two of us.

"Eh, Rude." I said cheekily, trying to hold in my excitement. He nodded his head. His silent way of addressing me without speaking. I tossed the request form on his chest. With his good arm, he reached out and flipped the file open. He lifted it up to his face and I saw his brows rise in question over his shades, which he was ever so insistent about wearing, all the damn time! But I digress.

"How?" Came his simple one word question. I grinned cockily and winked at him.

"Cause I'm just that good."

I couldn't see it, but I imagined he rolled his eyes at me. He handed the file back. "So, I need you to hurry up and get better, bro." I added.

Rude didn't say anything, but that was to be expected. He wasn't much of a talker. I rotated my chair and turned to watch the show he was watching. It was some talk show with three rather obese women talking about their weight problems. Damn this show sucked. I grabbed the remote and started flipping through channels.

"You know, if ya want I could bring you some porn to watch instead of this shit." I said slyly, nudging him in his good arm. He shook his head and a small, but noticeable grin spread across his features.

"No thanks. I'm not really into gay porn." He said evenly, but with a definite amused undertone. I gave him an unimpressed look before pinching him in the arm.

"Fuck you then." I said, pretending to be insulted, although he was right.

We talked a bit after that, well I mostly talked and Rude pretended to be listening. I told him about what happened between Rufus and I, though I did leave a few things out. Like him clinging onto me for dear life. I wanted Rude to still have the image of cocky, confident Rufus, rather than broken and unstable Rufus. I talked mostly about nothing, but I kept going on anyway. If he wasn't going to tell me to stop, then I wasn't. Soon I couldn't think of anything else to say so I shut up. It was then that Rude spoke.

"How do you know he's still alive." He said straightforwardly. I glanced down at him. His expression was unreadable, due to the shades, but I could see the tightening of his lips, meaning he was concerned.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I dunno. I just sorta know he ain't dead."

"Then why hasn't he contacted Shin-Ra yet? It's not that hard to reach a phone now and days." He said. I scowled. I hated that Rude had to be so damn rational all the time.

"I don't know why. Maybe he's hurt and can't reach one. There could be a lot of reasons. I don't know." I said defensively.

Rude sighed. "I'm not saying I doubt you. And I'd still go look for the boss even if only to find his body, but still…"

"He is alive!" I snapped, cutting him off. "Why doesn't anyone believe me?" I added on a more somber note.

Rude didn't speak after that and we sat in silence once again. I flipped through the channels again trying to take my mind off Tseng and the other's doubts of him still being alive. He was alive, he just had to be. I glanced back at Rude, who appeared to be asleep, but I knew he wasn't. He was thinking. So I didn't bother him. But after an hour or so of silence, I was bored out of my mind. I stood up to stretch and a yawn slipped through my lips. Guess I was more tired than I thought I was.

"Well, I guess I'll be seeing ya Rude. Try and get better, bro."

I made for the door and just as I was about to turn the handle, Rude spoke.

"I'm going with you, Reno."

I looked back at him in surprise. "So you think he's alive?"

"I don't know, but we can't rule out the possibility that he may still be alive."

A smile formed on my lips. "Thanks, Rude."

He nodded his head and waved a goodbye. I did the same and left, shutting the door quietly behind me. I released a sigh of relief. Finally, the wheels were in motion. I had gotten the permission I needed and now I had Rude's help. Recovering Tseng seemed to be a more of a tangible aspiration now, and more than just a goal I had while lying in the hospital bed. I smiled to myself and walked out of the Hospital ward. Next week, we'd be on our way to finding Tseng.

* * *

**A/N: The whole cure/heal theory seems to be going around a lot lately, so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon.**

**Anyway, Thanks to all my readers and reviewers, please keep em' coming!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thought I'd put the warnings back up again for precautionary reasons. **

**Warnings throughout this story: strong Language, abuse, graphic m/m relations, violence, rape/bondage, favors, other bad stuff**

**No beta.**

* * *

Wonderland Fallout 

**Reno POV**

I crashed out as soon as I reached my moderately sized two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment located near the LOVELESS district. It was poorly decorated and furniture was scarce, but it didn't matter. All I really needed was a place to lay my head. Although I had a bed, I preferred to sleep on the futon in the "living area", if it could even be called that. The only objects in the room were a TV set, a stack of porn, and the futon itself.

Sleep enveloped me almost as soon as I hit the soft, pliable surface of the futon. Unfortunately, I was awoken a few short hours later by the sound of someone banging the shit out of my door. I groaned and groped around for my phone, wanting to check the time. Which after a minute of uselessly feeling around for it, I realized that I didn't have it anymore. I tried to ignore the banging, but the person was becoming insistent.

Finally, I scowled and dragged myself off the futon. In my sleepy haze, I tripped over my stack of shameless DVD merchandise. I heard the sound of one of them crack as I accidentally stepped on one.

"Shit." I swore as I removed my foot from the busted DVD. This had better be damn important. I had just lost a valuable part of my "Twisted Sensei Sakemura" series.

I grabbed the door handle and slumped against the cool metal of the door. "Who the fuck is it?" I hissed out. The banging stopped and it grew quiet on the other side. I didn't have a door hole to peep out of so I pressed my ear to the door. I listened for any movement on the other side. Suddenly, the person on the other side kicked the door, causing me to jerk my head back at the action in alarm.

"It's me." A light, but assertive feminine voice responded. I released a sigh of relief once I recognized the voice.

"And me." Another deep and mellowed voice added. My jaw dropped. Did I just hear, who I thought I did? I questioned the second unmistakable voice. There was no way it could be him. Wasn't he still…

I unlocked my door and roughly yanked it opened in my anxiousness. My eyes went wide and I know I had a dumb, confused expression on my face. I glanced at both my visitors, but mostly focused on the one that should still be in the hospital.

"R-Rude?" I said in confusion. The tall brooding man didn't say anything. I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to shake away the effects of sleep. Maybe I was dreaming. I pinched my arm and refocused on the two standing in front of me. Nope, still there. Guess I wasn't dreaming.

Rude and the accompanying female ignored my dumbfounded look and walked in past me. She snickered in amusement at me and plopped down on my couch. Rude choose to stand. I was so confused. It was not but a few hours ago I had visited Rude all bandaged up in a hospital bed. I went up to him and poked him in his shoulder to make sure he was real, and that my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. Rude only lightly grunted as I poked him.

"Stop that." The auburn haired female snapped at me. I drew back and gave them both intensely confused looks.

"What the hell is going on here!?" I yelled. Rude pushed up his shades and cleared his throat.

"Well…"Rude began, only to be cut off by the female Turk.

"Dummy here had himself healed and cured about an hour ago." She said condescendingly. I shot a look of unbelief at Rude.

"You didn't?"

"I did." He said plainly. I was shocked. Rude knew the risks of using a cure and heal materia too fast on major injures. It made the body's natural healing ability dissipate. I didn't understand. I looked to the auburn haired Turk.

"And you let him do it, Cissnei?" I snapped accusingly

"I didn't know! I only just found out about it." She retorted back. "I would have stopped him, if I would have known." She added softly. I immediately felt bad for blaming her. Turning my attention back to Rude, I questioned him.

"Why, Rude? Why did you do it?" I asked him sincerely.

Rude walked over to the window, and peered out of it. Cissnei and I watched his peculiar movement intently. He glanced out the window in silence for a while, until he finally spoke.

"I did it for the Commander." He said quietly, still peering out the window.

Cissnei and I exchanged troubled looks. I thought it best to remain quiet at the moment and not interrupt Rude. He continued.

"I thought it would be best if I used a Cure materia to quicken the healing process. After I had finished talking with you, I realized that I still had some hope left that the Tseng could be alive. But in order to ensure that he will still be alive by the time we find him, I needed to get better quickly. Time is of the essence and two weeks have already passed, not including the time we were unconscious after the accident. We can waste no more time." He said in finality.

I nodded my head in understanding. I was extremely proud of Rude, and extremely disappointed in myself. Why hadn't I insisted on being healed immediately like Rude had? Of course I had asked, but every time I tried, Rufus would convince me to do otherwise. Damn sociopathic manipulator convincing me to stay because he said Tseng would have wanted me to heal properly. I wonder how Rude convinced the staff to cure him, despite his injuries.

"Hey Rude, how did you get them to concede?" I asked immensely interested. Cissnei leaned over, eager to hear Rude's answer as well.

The brooding man didn't say anything. A faint grin graced his lips momentarily and disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Maybe I'll tell you another day." He said evenly. Cissnei and I both stared at each other, our expressions mutual. Maybe we didn't want to know what he did. Of course in the back of my mind I did want to know, being the nosy little prick that I was.

I yawned and stretched my arms out. I plopped down on the futon next to Cissnei and extended my legs. My feet barely touched her leg when she pushed them off.

"Hey!" I snapped at her. "It's my couch, I can put my feet wherever I damn well please." I said firmly.

She rolled her eyes at me and removed herself from the futon, only to step on another one of my "classics" in adult entertainment. I heard the breaking crunch and scowled again. Damn it. By the time they left I wouldn't have anything left of my collection.

"Sorry." She said apologetically.

"Whatever." I responded lazily. I yawned again and stretched out across the comfortable couch.

"Reno." Rude said quietly. "Do you think you'll be ready to go tomorrow?"

A smile spread across my lips. "Hell yeah, I'll be ready." I was more than anxious to start looking for Tseng. I closed my eyes and relaxed. Rude and Cissnei made to leave, and then I heard another crunch sound. I immediately bolted up.

"Goddamn it!" I shouted in aggravation. Rude had effectively crushed another one of my DVD's.

"Sorry." He said evenly.

"Watch where yer walkin'!"

"Well maybe you shouldn't leave your disgusting material lying around!" Cissnei snapped back.

I made a sound of displeasure with my teeth and laid back down. "I'll be back tomorrow afternoon to come get you. Make sure your weapon is fully charged." Rude said.

I nodded my head, though I didn't open eyes. Rude took this as adequate confirmation. They left and closed the door behind them. Good thing the door was set to lock automatically because I sure wasn't gonna get up and do it. I was out in a matter of seconds after they left.

…

Once again I awoke to the sound of someone knocking on my door, albeit it was softer this time around. I reached again for my non-existent phone. Damn it, I really needed to get a PHS, and soon. Another knock came at the door, followed by a soft click of the door being unlocked. Only two people had keys to my apartment; the fucking crazy ass landlady, who practically beats the shit out of my door to get the rent, and Rude. I assumed the latter.

He came in silently and closed the door softly behind him. He had a bag with him and placed it onto my kitchen counter. I yawned and rubbed the effects of sleep from my eyes.

"Eh, Rude?" I said through a wide yawn. "What time is it?"

He emptied the bag onto the counter. Guns, bombs and ammo spilled out from its confinement. I walked over to him and sat down on a barstool, skimming over the various objects. I picked up a semi-automatic pistol and examined it. Although I didn't use guns often, I was still highly skilled in using them. Guns were more of Rude and Tseng's thing. Cissnei had her shuriken, while I favored my Electro-Mag Rod.

"It's about two thirty p.m." He said evenly. I placed the gun down and headed for the bathroom.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower, alright." I called back to Rude.

I turned on the shower and undressed quickly. A soft moan slipped through my lips as I stepped underneath the hot water. I closed my eyes and let the hot water relax me. Soon, I thought. Soon we'd be on our way to finding Tseng. I couldn't wait to find him. I missed him like crazy. Even though President Shin-Ra had appointed me the New Turk leader, I had "politely" declined and refused to sign anything that would allow him to be replaced.

I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. Although I was ecstatic about looking for Tseng, I was still fearful of the unknown and uncertainty. What if we never found him? And if we did find him, what state would he be in? Would he be hurt or something even worse? I shook the negative thoughts from my head. No, I told myself. Tseng was alive. It seemed as if I'd been repeating that phrase more frequently.

"Tseng." I whispered breathlessly. I conjured up a vision of him. Long dark brown hair, seeming black at a glance, was slicked back and primed to perfection. Soft brown eyes were encased by thick dark lashes. His nose was sharp and elegant, which rested above ample pale pink lips. His skin was pale and flawless, and it accentuated his dark features beautifully. A bindi, most likely a custom from his native land of Wutai, was positioned in the center of his forehead. Which made him appear more exotic in my opinion.

Tseng was indeed gorgeous, and had been ever since I've known him. Sometimes I would just stare at him, enthralled by his elegance. Tseng would usually catch me staring, and he would either roll his eyes, or ignore me. But then, there were other times when he would stare back at me, meeting my lustrous stare with an unreadable one. I had often tried to decipher what that look meant, but I always came up empty handed.

I turned off the shower and toweled off. I dressed quickly in my normal, sloppily done attire and rejoined Rude. He was sitting on a barstool, staring off into space. Most likely he was thinking. Funny, Rude thought a lot, but hardly ever spoke. But then again, I talked enough for the both of us. I opened up the freezer and pulled out some waffles. Can't work on an empty stomach, right?

"Want some?" I asked while popping them into the toaster. He shook his head no.

"We should start investigating the remains of the bridge first." He said evenly.

"Yeah, I guess that would be the most logical place to start. Good thinking, bro."

After wolfing down my breakfast, we gathered our weapons and armed ourselves. To the untrained eye we appeared defenseless, except for my Electro-Mag rod, which I carried in my hand. In all actuality, we were loaded with guns, bombs and gadgets all well hidden underneath our suits. I made a quick call to Rufus to let him know where we'd be. Rude drove and I sat in the passenger side. I was anxious and couldn't stop fidgeting. My fingers tapped on the smooth leather armrest, and I chewed my bottom lip incessantly.

I could tell Rude was getting annoyed my by antics by the slight quirk of his lips. I tried to stop, but would find myself doing it again anyway. Unfortunately, we would have to use a helicopter to reach the wreckage in the slums. The bridge had been built parallel to the train track, which had originally been the only transportation to the slums. The bridge was built so that the people living atop the plate, could access the slums and vice versa in their own source of transportation, though it was hard for someone from the slums to access the plate.

It was convenient for people above the plate, who preferred to travel in their own comforts away from the slum people who often used the train. People from the slums were only allowed to access the certain parts of the plate, at certain times of the day. If anyone from the slums was found in the upper sectors, they'd immediately retained and imprisoned. It was a hard life for them, I knew that first hand. Even Tseng lived in the slums for awhile, though he never explained why he moved from Wutai to Midgar. Wutai was such a beautiful place, and the Turks vacationed there a lot. So I don't know why someone would willing come here, beside the young boys who aspire to be in SOLDIER.

We arrived at the Shin-Ra building shortly enough and headed straight to the hanger where the helicopters were kept. I took the pilots seat and Rude co-piloted. We then launched off for the slums.

…

Rubble, Rubble and more Rubble. That's all we'd been searching through for the past three hours. I sat down on a block of broken stone and sighed. We were in sector 3 of the slums, where the debris from the bridge had fallen. The damage was terrible and we found a number of bodies. Thankfully none of them were Tseng. My heart was sent into a panicked frenzy every time I pulled out a body from underneath the wreckage.

I looked up at the destroyed bridge Shin-Ra was trying to repair. It would take at least a few months to finish. I pulled out a cigarette and lit it. I needed the nicotine. Rude appeared beside me. He didn't look as if he had had any luck finding anything either. We were looking for something that would lead us to believe Tseng had been here, or was still here. So far we'd found squat. Cissnei had called at least twice to check up on us and inform us that she had been appointed to investigate the bombing. President Shinra didn't like the fact that someone had that kind of power besides him. He wanted them found and eliminated.

"We should keep looking." Rude said promptly.

I nodded my head and flicked my cigarette. We continued to search through what we could of the ruble until sundown. Still, we found nothing. At least nothing that belonged to him. I ran my fingers through my spiky hair in frustration.

"Damn it." I groaned in frustration. "We didn't find anything."

Rude readjusted his shades and nodded in consensus. "We'll resume tomorrow." He said.

"Yeah. I'm hungry too. We could go to this little bar I know? You up for it?"

The brooding man nodded his head. We walked through the rubble, glancing here and there for anything that looked familiar. A few minutes later, we made it through the damage and onto the main dirt road in the sector five slums. People stayed away from us, and gave us space as we passed. Our uniforms were dead giveaways as to what we were.

We entered the rundown shack of a bar. The lights were dim and it was slightly crowded. Nobody seemed to notice our presence. Rude and I took a seat in the corner, and I signaled to the waitress that we were ready to order. An attractive female came over to us and pulled out a notepad. She flipped her dark hair and gave us a playful wink.

"What can I get ya for?" She asked in a slum drawled accent.

"I'll take a beer and fries, extra salt." I said languidly.

"And I'll have a beer as well, with some onion rings." Rude ordered.

She jotted down the order quickly. "Comin' right up."

After she left, I slumped and rested my head on the table. Today had been a big disappointment. We hadn't been able to find shit. No leads on anything. But as depressed as I was, there was a loud rambunctious group of guys just havin' a grand ole time. They had the staff pretty much catering to their every beck and call. I noticed one of the guys had a tattoo of a snake design coiled around his bicep. I recognized the tattoo. It was the symbol of the Serpentine gang.

Those bastards had been given us trouble ever since they were formed five years ago. They worked for Don Corneo, the Mafioso who owned the Honey Bee Inn in the red-light district. The Serpentines were a group of greedy, Gil seeking mongrels that would do anything for the right price. However, unlike most gangs, they were slightly more organized and skilled. And aside from working for the Don, they had a grudge against Shin-Ra.

A few years ago, one of our first cases with Tseng as the newly promoted head of the Turks was to establish Shin-Ra as the ruling force throughout the slums. We threatened, terrorized, and killed off members of various gangs, letting them know who the real dominating force in this city was. It was a relatively easy task for us Turks and all went well, for the most part. Our only real resistance had been the Serpentines. They were a young and inexperienced group at the time. They ignored our threats and warnings and had begun to wreak havoc throughout the slums.

Although Shinra didn't care what they did to the unfortunate citizens of the slums, Reeve Tuesti did. He was the head of the Urban Development and greatly cared for their welfare. Reeve had practically begged Tseng to help the people. At first he declined, but Reeve was a good friend and was very passionate about it. Tseng agreed to take care of the problem. So Rude, Tseng and I, at the request of Reeve, set out to do damage control.

Despite our verbal threats, they continued their actions. Eventually, we were forced to "compromise" them. Compromise meaning, we killed half their crew. It wasn't our intention to, but they needed to be controlled. Ever since that time, the Turks have been an enemy of the Serpentines. They eventually regrouped, and joined the Don.

I glanced over at the happily drunken group. They were ordering more drinks and a few girls, obviously prostitutes, were gathering around them. They must have scored a killing on a recent job. Our drinks and food soon came and I devoured my fries. I downed my beer and tried to signal to the waitress to bring me another one and more fries. But she too was tied up with the demanding group. I groaned. They must have had Gil out the wazoo to be able to spend more like that. I made another attempt to signal at the waitress.

"Damn," I said in annoyance. "Service here sucks today."

Rude nodded his head. He had finished his beer as well and wanted another. I shot an annoyed look at the cheering group. They were increasing getting louder, and I would have said something, but I didn't want them to know we were here. Although they were smart enough to know not to kill a Turk, for fear of upsetting the most powerful company in the world, they wouldn't hesitate to try and attack us. However, they were too drunk and having too good of a time to bother with us.

"Hey bitch!" A sleazy looking guy with dark hair and eyes yelled at a waitress. "Bring us another round of beers!" The group laughed and she rolled her eyes, but proceeded to do as they ordered.

"Bunch of assholes, huh Rude?" I said to my partner, but he wasn't listening. Instead, he was staring at the group very intently. I wouldn't have paid him any mind, considering he didn't usually talk, but his brows were furrowed down in concentration; the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. I shot him a confused look of my own.

"What's up big guy?" I asked the brooding man. His lips twitched again, and he didn't take his eyes off the group.

"Eh, you alright?" I asked concerned. Rude shook his head.

"Listen." Came his one word order. I shrugged my shoulders and did as requested. I listened intently to them. Not a hard feat, considering they were getting louder the more they drank.

"Hell yeah, Dean! This is the life!" A man exclaimed. A round of cheers followed his comment.

The dark haired man, who I assumed to be Dean, laughed and pulled one of the girls he had closer to him. "Yup boys, we've been livin' the good life. What with all the Gil we have now." As if testament to his statement, he pulled out a wad of cash that contained easily five thousand Gil. He pulled out a few bills and slipped them into the accompanying prostitute's bra. The girl shrieked in delight.

"It's been at least three weeks since we got the money and we're still rollin' in cash!" A skinny baldhead man shouted in delight.

Rude and I both looked at each at that. Three weeks? Nobody in the slums had that kind of money. Not even the Don would ever consider giving them a payout that big. But to have enough gill to last for weeks? I wonder what they did to get such a payout. Now my interest was piqued. I listened in again.

"Hey Dean, how much money we got left anyway?" a guy asked.

Dean smirked. "Enough to last us for a good while." The men cheered excitedly.

"Too bad Jured couldn't be here." The baldhead man said. The group nodded in consensus. Dean raised his beer and the rest followed his example.

"Here's to Jured, who had been a notable member of this crew." Dean toasted. They all cheered and took a drink.

"Damn," a guy with short brown hair hissed. "It's all because of that Turk. If it hadn't been for him, Jured would still be here."

My eyes went wide with shock. Did they just say…Turk? I glanced at Rude. His dark expression confirming what I had just heard. So, these guys had come in contact with Tseng a few weeks ago. I felt an overwhelming sense of astonishment. This was the first time anyone had even heard anything of our leader. I was tempted to rush over there, and demand they tell me where they had seen him. Just as I was about to stand up, Rude grabbed my arm. He pulled me back into my seat and I shot him a confused look.

"What the hell, Rude? They've seen Tseng and I'm gonna go ask em' a couple of questions."

Rude shook his head. I turned back to the group, listening to their loud conversation.

"Damn that Turk to hell!" The short-haired guy yelled out, followed by cheering.

"Fellas, Fellas!" Dean said above the noise. "Remember," he said slyly, "It's because of that bastard that we have all this money."

I tightened my fist. I didn't even know in what context they were talking about my leader in, but I did not like the sound of this. Rude didn't look to pleased either.

"Yeah, who would have known a Wutaiian beauty like him was worth so much money!"

"And he wouldn't that bad of a fuck either." Dean shouted drunkenly. They all laughed and jeered.

My jaw dropped and I swear my heart skipped a beat. I don't think I was able to comprehend that last comment right then. Did that asshole just refer to Tseng as a good fuck? I looked toward Rude as if seeking confirmation from what I just heard. Judging by the stunned look on the normally stoic man's face, I'd say I'd heard that right. Almost instantly, I felt an intense wave of Adrenaline erupt through my body.

I was pissed beyond the point of rationality. I reached for my EMR and turned it on full charge. The intense cracking sound of electricity was drowned out by the loud noise of the group. Without a second thought, Rude pulled out two pistols. I don't think I've ever seen Rude as mad as he was right now. His expression was nothing short of silent revenge. We stood and slowly began to walk over to the group with murderous intent.

Rude fired a shot. Then all hell broke loose.

* * *

**A/N: I hope I'm not confusing anyone on the timeline of this story. Tseng's timeline is three weeks before Reno's until otherwise specified. **

**Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this story. Please let me know if you are!**

**Thanks :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Wonderland Fallout 

**Tseng's POV**

Heavy.

My arms and legs felt heavy.

I awoke to the feeling of my head being banged against metal. I grunted at the pain and gritted my teeth. My body was aching and I felt sore all over. I opened my eyes slightly and encountered nothing but darkness. It was pitch black. I was disoriented and dizzy, and I couldn't keep my head from lolling back and forth.

Where the hell was I?

I tried to regulate my breathing and calm down. I took deep breaths and exhaled accordingly. Once I was calm enough, I glanced around the darkness. I didn't know where I was, only that I was moving. I knew that I was in the back of a truck or something. There was no light being emitted anywhere. I tried to move but quickly realized that I couldn't. My arms and legs were chained to either the wall of the truck, or a heavy weight. Whatever it was, it prevented me from moving far.

I scowled in annoyance and pulled at my chains. They didn't budge. I relaxed back against the metal wall and sighed. Then I heard it; the faint sound of someone breathing. I was instantly on alert. My keen ears picked up on what direction the soft pants were coming from. I stared in the direction of the left corner.

"Who is there?" I said quietly, yet assertive. When I didn't get a response, I repeated my question a little harsher.

"Uh?" Came a soft startled voice. I heard the rattle of their chains and assumed they were in the same position I was.

"Who are you?" I asked, trying to soften my tone.

"I'm…Jiao." he said lowly. "I'm from Wutai. And you?"

"I'm Tseng." I said plainly. My name specified my country of origin and I didn't feel the need to clarify. I shifted a bit, and placed my chained hands in my lap. I had no idea where I was, or how I had gotten here. The last thing I could recall was...

Being brutally raped.

Reflexively, I clenched my fists. The memory alone stirred up a rage in me. Although I didn't know how I had gotten here, I was one-hundred percent sure it had something to do with the Serpentine gang, or to be more specific, Dean. His image was burned into my mind. I held a deep hatred for this man and his group of miscreants.

I pushed the thought from my mind and turned my attention back to Jiao. Like a good Turk, I needed to ask him a few things in order to access my situation.

"Jiao, do you know where we're going?" I asked.

"Well, I don't know where they're taking us exactly, but I do know it's a very exclusive whorehouse."

"A what?" I could barely suppress my surprise. "Did you say a whorehouse?" I said in disbelief.

"Yes." he said regretfully.

We sat in silence for a while. I couldn't speak, I was in such disbelief. Those guys had thoroughly screwed me, literally in both ways. Not only had they fucked me up, they sold me to a damn whorehouse! I pulled against my heavy chains again in frustration.

It was then that realization hit me. I pulled against my chains and jerked my arm. I was surprised when there was no sharp pain that followed. If I recalled correctly, my arm was still broken after they had had their way with me and even after that, when I blacked out.

But that was not so, now. I moved my leg and realized it had been set and healed. A sigh escaped through my lips. This was confusing. So sometime between the time they had drugged me and now, I had been cured. I was grateful for finally being relived of my pains, but I knew there had to be more to it.

I glance at Jiao in the darkness. "How did you get here?" Although I was genuinely interested, I was also bored. And since he was the only other person in here, might as well past the time by talking to him.

"Well I," he started off lowly. He paused momentarily, as if trying to get his emotions in control. "I was sold, by my father."

I didn't respond, and although my facial expression didn't change, my heart sunk. Ever since Wutai was defeated in the war, it had been hard. Many families lost everything: money, land…sons and daughters. Hard times were upon Wutai and many people had to turn to tourism in order to make money, converting their own home to private vacation spots. Other poorer families that had been devastated by the war were turning to prostitution in order to feed their families. It was a horrible fate for those who had to whore themselves out in order for their family to live comfortably.

"I have six younger brothers and sisters. My father is a cripple, and my two older brothers and my mother perished during the war. I am the only source of income now." he said with a heavy heart.

"How old are you?" I asked reluctantly.

"Seventeen."

I felt bad for him, but there wasn't much I could do for him. At the moment, we were in the same situation. I relaxed against the metal wall and closed my eyes. I didn't speak for some time, and I had almost drifted off to sleep until I heard Jiao speak.

"How did you end up here?" he said curiously.

"I have no idea. I don't even remember being put in here." I said with slight amusement.

"Did your parents sell you?"

I laughed softly. "No. My parents are both alive and doing well in Junon."

"They don't live in Wutai?"

Again I laughed. "No, they haven't lived in Wutai for some time now. My father is a skilled physician and my mother is an obstetrician. Once they found out they could make more money outside of Wutai, they left their homeland."

A slight grin formed on my lips, although it was invisible to Jiao in the dark. I hadn't thought about my parents for awhile. I had run away from home when I was thirteen and joined Shin-Ra soon after. My parents had wanted me to become a doctor and my exact words to them had been, "Fuck you both." I had wanted to be in SOLDIER originally, but I quickly derived from that goal once I discovered the Turks. But that wasn't the reason why I ran away. I had to get away, otherwise…

I shook away the painful memories and suppressed them, just like I had been doing for almost ten years now. In order to make sure the unfortunate thoughts wouldn't reemerge, I started to talk to Jiao again.

"Do you know what kind of place this whorehouse is?" I asked.

"Well, I was told by the dealer that there is a pretty rich clientele. Most of the people that go there pay thousands of gil to have their ultimate fantasies fulfilled."

I inwardly cringed. "So, just out of curiosity, how much money were you sold for, if you don't mind me asking?" I was curious as to just how "rich" this clientele was.

"No I don't mind. I think it was…450,000 Gil, plus a monthly compensation of 3,000 that will be sent to my family."

"Damn." I said, slightly shocked.

"Yeah, my family will be good now." He said, though sadness was evident in his tone. "Beautiful Wutaiian men are in high demand, so I assume that factor played a part in the high payout."

Just as I was about to respond, the vehicle stopped. I tensed up and listened to the noises on the outside. Several men could be heard from outside. It was awfully quiet besides the low grumbles of the men, so I assumed we weren't in the city anymore.

Suddenly, the back latch was opened and the bright light of the sun flooded into the darkness. I closed my eyes to shield them from the light. The men approached me and one of them grabbed my arm, and to my surprise, he stabbed me in it with a syringe. Although it was bright, my vision was starting to darken, I was slipping into unconsciousness.

Son of a bitch. Not again.

…

The second time I awoke, I was in a better place. Instead of waking up to complete darkness in the back of a truck, I had woken up to a soft light. I was also laying on something comfortable and plush, with a warm weight next to me. I opened my eyes and saw a dark head of hair beside me. Their face was turned away from me so I couldn't see what they looked like. With a wide catlike yawn, I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Once I was fully awake, I marveled at the gorgeous surroundings.

Red and gold tapestries hung on every wall. They were elaborate and beautifully designed with gold tassels on the ends. Beautifully embroidered cushions and throw pillows were placed on the soft lush carpet. Even the bed I was currently residing on was massive and extensively designed. The room was absolutely gorgeous, though there was something that irked me. There were no windows and the door did not have a door handle. It felt like a beautifully decorated prison.

I glanced at the body sleeping next to me. It was a young man, very slender and tall. I didn't know who he was, but he didn't seem like a threat. Still, I was on my guard. The room was a bit chilly so I grabbed some of the silk blankets and wrapped them around my bare shoulders. Wait…when did they take they take my shirt off? As a matter of fact…

I lifted the covers up to find that I was completely naked. I swore out loud and quickly replaced the covers. They body next to me shifted and let out a soft sigh. He was waking up. I thought about faking sleep in order to avoid encountering him, but I decided against it. He yawned in a similar fashion and sat up. His arm bumped mine accidentally and he jumped in surprise. He swore in Wutaiian and stared at me in surprise. He was obviously disoriented and confused.

"Where am I? Who the hell are you?" he asked frantically. His sounded so familiar. I looked at him closely. He couldn't have been more than eighteen.

"Jiao?" I said unsurely. His dark, scared eyes calmed and he released a sigh of relief.

"Tseng? You are Tseng, yes?" he asked. I nodded my head.

He relaxed back into the bed and a soft, shy smile spread across his lips. "You're very pretty."

I resisted the urge to snicker. I absolutely hated being called something so feminine as, "pretty". I brushed the comment off and looked at the younger man. He was very beautiful, with shoulder length hair and dark brown eyes.

"I'm scared." Jiao said honestly. "I've never even had sex before."

I didn't know what to say. There wasn't much I could say to ease his tension. But I listened anyway.

"Does it hurt?" he asked concerned. Fear and apprehension were prevalent in his tone.

Shit. What was I going to tell him? That it hurts like a bitch and that you'll feel completely violated and helpless? I wasn't very good at consoling people, but I did have the ability to calm him down. It was a special trait of mine. I was able to calm even the most nervous of Turks by the soothing sound of my voice.

"It…does hurt, but the pain of entry lessens overtime." I said softly. Jiao looked less worried, but still apprehensive.

"Did it hurt the first time you did it?" he asked. His voice was that of a scared child.

My fists involuntarily clenched as I was reluctantly forced to remember my atrocious and unspeakable first time. Damn it. This kid was making it harder for me to keep my memories suppressed in the recesses of my mind, where they belonged. I did not want to think of my first time. If I could, I would erase the event from my memory. I wouldn't even classify it as my first, considering I didn't know that I was even having sex. I was too young and naïve at the time to understand what he was doing to me.

I scowled out loud at the horrible memory and rubbed my eyes, trying to suppress the dreadful memory. Jiao looked at me in confusion and tilted his head in a very childish gesture.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded my head and my expression softened.

"Yes, I'm fine," I said evenly. "Anyway, it did hurt my first time." No use lying to him. Might as well let him know what he's in for. I was about to make another comment, when the door suddenly opened. Jiao reflexively pulled up the covers to hide more of his bare body. My eyes were instantly glued to the incomers.

A big, plump man with reddish blond hair and a dark blue suit entered, followed by several large, menacing looking men. Behind them, a group of frilly, femininely dressed men came in as well. Two big guys stood guard at the door. My eyes trailed over all their faces and I glared at them skeptically. Behind me, Jiao had moved closer to me as if seeking protection from the wandering eyes of the people who entered. The plump man gazed at us appealingly and a wide grin graced his face.

"Oh! This is very, very wonderful!" he shouted cheerfully. "They are so gorgeous; they will make so much money!"

His entourage nodded their heads in agreement, particularly the men in the frilly pink shirts. I glared at the plump man, and clenched my fist in warning. He wasn't intimidated by my intense look and instead his smile widened.

"Oh, looks like we got a wild one." he said excitedly. I rolled my eyes at his comment. He peered behind me at Jiao, who was practically hiding behind me.

"Aw, he's so cute." The plump man said amused. Jiao moved closer to me until his chin was practically resting on my shoulder. I resisted the urge to draw away from him, as was my instinct whenever my personal space was invaded.

The rusty blond grinned cheekily and approached the bed where we were. He leaned close to my face and winked.

"Hiya you two. My name is Pero Donte. I'm the owner and proprietor of this fine establishment." His smile widened. "As of right now, I own you and you are to do as you are told. I have paid a pretty hefty price for the both of you and I expect to make that money back and more."

He reached his hand out to stroke my cheek and I swatted his hand away. The big guys behind him instantly gathered around him at his defense. Pero raised a hand in dismissal at then, causing them to halt immediately.

"Its okay boys, I got this." he said assuredly. He leaned down to my level and smiled, his plump cheeks spreading.

"Now look here sweetheart, I paid over half a million dollars for your pretty little ass and I will not be disrespected by my own property."

This guy was really pushing it. I could only hold my tongue for so long before I would be antagonized into retorting.

"Same goes for you too, little one." he said to Jiao, who was still hiding behind me.

"You are to call me Master Donte, is that clear?"

Jiao nodded his head in fear, but I did not. Fuck this guy. Who is he to think that I will call him master? I have no master, I am my own.

His smile faltered a bit and he glared at me. "Do I make myself clear?" he repeated again. I refused to respond and he grew frustrated. He signaled to one of the guys behind him to come forth. A large, burlesque man stepped up. I was not intimidated.

"Now see here, boy. You either stop this defiant behavior or you will be forced to submit."

He waited for me to respond. I didn't, and he nodded to his thug bodyguard to hit me. Jiao scrambled away from me and moved to the back of the bed in fright. The man's large fist came at me, but I was fast. This wasn't like the last time when I was completely defenseless and wounded. I was healed of my injuries and free of my restraints. As the punch came in, I quickly ducked out of the way and countered his miss with a hit of my own. Although I was thin, I was still strong and I hit with deadly accuracy. I punched him in the nose.

The deafening crunch of the breaking of bones filled the air, followed by a roar of pain from the big guy. He went down holding his broken and bloody nose. My fingers were throbbing in pain from hitting him so hard in the bridge of his nose. It went deadly silent, except for the bellowing screams of the injured man. A few guys went to their comrade and escorted him out of the room. I was filled with a sense of sick satisfaction. It felt good to have my strength back again.

Unexpectedly, Pero began to laugh, thick and hearty. Everyone around him stiffened. I kept my gaze locked onto him and my expression blank. He smiled at me and signaled for his thugs to restrain me. They surrounded the bed, but I was quick. With a sheet wrapped around my waist, I slipped through them and headed for the door. But just as I was about to try a pull a fast one on the door guards, I heard the sound of a gun click.

I looked back to see the barrel of a gun pressed against the side of Jiao's head. Tears immediately streamed from his eyes, and his fearful sobs filled the air. Pero looked at me with that eerie smile he always had and shoved the gun roughly against the boy's head.

"If you step out that door, he dies." He said through a smile.

I stared at the crying boy who was pleading with me through his eyes to save his life. For a brief moment, I considered leaving, but the thought was almost immediately dismissed. There was no way I was going to let Jiao die. Besides, they probably had more guards around the place and they weren't just going to let me walk out of here. I stared at the chubby man's face, trying to decipher if he was bluffing or not.

He wasn't bluffing, and the look in his eyes reflected the truth. I took a step away from the door and sat back on the bed. Pero pulled the gun away from Jiao's head and the boy immediately latched onto me. I didn't know how to react so I just let him cling to me.

Pero signaled to the frilly looking guys to come forth, though they seemed hesitant to approach me.

"Dress them up real nice and sexy like," he said to them. " and if _he _misbehaves, shoot the boy." He said to the thugs. The reddish blond man looked at me and winked. "After they're dressed, show them to their new workplaces." His grinned widened.

* * *

**A/N: Chapter lengths will probably increase soon. **

**Anyway, thanks for my anonymous reviewer Lisa for pointing out a few grammatical errors. Thank you, and thanks for being so nice and helpful about it. Earlier chapters will be fixed and revised at a later date, hopefully ; D**

**Thanks for reading! Leave a review before you go, thanks!**


	10. Chapter 10

Wonderland Fallout

**Tseng's POV**

As of right now, I would gladly take a bullet between the eyes. I would welcome death with arms wide open, if only to rid me of the utter humiliation I was being forced to endure. And for what? For the life of a boy I didn't even know. I tried to tell myself over and over again that I wouldn't feel any remorse for Jiao if he was killed due to my actions. I kept trying to convince myself that his death would not affect me in anyway. Even now as I reluctantly allow myself to be dressed in this scandalous attire, I am still pondering the thought of rebellion.

My fingers twitched by my side as an outward expression of the rage that boiled within me. I glanced over at Jiao as they continued to dress us. Anxiety and fear were etched into his features. I kept my expression neutral, although I was fiercely upset.

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally finished. The colorful, frilly men took a few steps back to admire their work. They looked very pleased with the outcome, and even the guards seemed to be highly impressed. I didn't want to look at myself, even though I could clearly see what I was wearing.

The frilly men directed Jiao and I to a large full length mirror. I resisted the urge to gasp in horror. I was looking at myself in the mirror but I wasn't seeing myself. No…this cannot be me. There was no way this image reflected my figure correctly. For the mirror reflected me to be dressed in a lose fitting black Kimono with accented red roses. It hung off my shoulders loosely, exposing them and partially my chest in a seductive manner. A long, dramatic slit on the side of the dark Kimono exposed a smooth pale leg. My hair was combed down and flowed freely, completely opposite to the slicked back, conservative way I usually fashioned it. My lips were rosy and a single red rose was placed behind my ear.

If only Reno could see me now.

I scowled at my image; the thought of escaping was becoming more prevalent. Jiao had on similar attire to me, though his Kimono was a soft lilac color with pink cherry blossoms. He blushed as he looked at himself in the mirror. Then he turned to me and smiled shyly. He made to speak but was interrupted as a man entered the room. All attention was turned to him. They made way for him to cross the room over to where Jiao and I stood.

He was very short, no taller than five-two at the most. His hair was dark and greasy, and he had a long, hooked beak nose. His clothes were dull and almost all black. A wide, amused smile spread across his face, revealing slightly crooked teeth.

"Welcome to Dante's Harem." The odd looking man said; his voice surprising deep. "My name is Carous. I am the overseer of this place. I will give you an overview of how things are done here. Please, follow me."

Jiao looked uncertain and stood very close to me. I was a little hesitant myself, but I followed the birdlike man anyway. He led us out of the room and into an elegant hallway. For a whorehouse, this place was sure high class. Crystal chandeliers adorned the beautifully arched ceilings. Lavish paintings and tapestries decorated the walls. Jiao, unable to control his awe, was open mouthed and looked very surprised.

"I'm going to give you a rundown of the rules here. First of all, Pero Donte is your master and you are his slave." Carous said promptly. I resisted the urge to snort in annoyance. I was nobodies fucking slave.

"He has purchased you both for a substantial amount of money and you are now his property. Secondly, you are to perform whatever request a customer may ask. Failure to do so will result in punishment and more time added to your service here. The customers pay a hell of a lot of money to have their fantasies fulfilled and you are not to deny them, unless the action they requested would result in your demise."

"And thirdly, do NOT try to escape! You will fail, and you will be caught and punished immediately. As you both know, you were transported here in complete darkness, and then moved into this building while you were unconscious. We do this as a precaution, so that you won't know where you're going, or where your located. So even if you somehow escape from these walls, you will have no idea where to go or which direction to head for."

We entered another hallway which contained red and gold ornamented doors, each with a gold number on it. He stopped in front of a door marked 9.

"This is the room you both will be sharing for now. When you build up a regular clientele you will be given your very own room."

He pulled out a red key and unlocked the door. Signaling for us to enter, we followed him into the room. It was as lavishly decorated and as beautiful the rest of the building. Jiao bounded into the room, immediately heading toward one of the king sized beds in the large room. He pounced onto the bed, very much resembling a playful kitten.

"Oh, Tseng!" He shouted ecstatically. "This bed is huge, and so comfy! Have you ever seen such a large bed?"

I wanted to say I had a bed of the same size in my nice spacious apartment located at Shin-Ra, but I held my tongue. Carous grinned at Jiao, and then looked at me. I kept my face neutral and seemingly uninterested. He snickered.

"Well, aren't you going to examine your new residence?" He asked.

"Fuck this place." I hissed out bitterly. Carous only smiled, which caused me to become very suspicious of him. The bird like man signaled to the bouncing Jiao that it was time to leave. Reluctantly, he left comforts of the bed with a pout. As we exited the room, Carous grabbed Jiao's hand and placed the red key in it. He pulled out another key and made to grab my hand. Defiantly, I stepped away from him, refusing to take it. I did not belong here and I was not going to take a key to my assigned room like I was a willing resident of this horrid place.

Carous merely shrugged and placed the key back into his pocket. Jiao shot me a look of slight apprehension. He was worried that my defiant actions would result in both of us getting punished. He stood close beside me and leaned over.

"Be careful, I don't want to get in trouble." He whispered nervously.

I ignored him and continued to follow Carous. We walked down corridor after corridor; the beauty of the place was truly enthralling. As we walked, I was inwardly memorizing the pathways we took and where each corridor led to. If I was to ever escape from here, then I would need to know the layout of the place. If there was one thing Verdot taught me it was to try and be as familiar with a place as you possibly could before ever taking action. This applied to both missions and detainment. Because when you're running for your life, you can't hesitate because of confusion.

Unfortunately, I could never get Reno to fully understand the importance of this. He never took the time to study or memorize the mission plans, maps and objectives. He considered it a great big waste of time. His logic was, and I quote, "Ya can't plan out a mission because you neva' know what's gonna happen, ya know? Cause like, shit happens and you can't do damn thing about it. Might as well just go in there and hope for the best."

His logic was…questionable, but I did see the perception. However, if he had just taken the time to study the plans, then he wouldn't have to ask where the hell he was supposed to go and do every five minutes. It was the flaw in his little so called "logic", because when you're life is on the line, you're going to want to know where you're going with no hesitation or uncertainty to slow you down. Of course Reno didn't see it that way and could not be convinced otherwise. He could be so stubborn sometimes, and neither Rude, nor I could persuade him to rethink his reckless principles.

Without me realizing it, a slight grin had formed on my face. Just thinking about the red-haired menace and his impractical ways had brought a smile to my face. It didn't go unnoticed by Jiao, and he beamed at me, obviously thinking I was smiling at him. My faint smile immediately dispersed once we entered a large open area. It was vast and grand, with a large water fountain situated in the center.

There were others here, other whores that is. Most of them were lounging lazily beside the fountain, chatting lightly to each other. As we made to cross the area, they turned their gazes toward us. They were all beautiful, and fine boned. A few looked at us with curiosity, while others held animosity in their eyes. I ignored all their looks and kept focused on my memorization of the place. Jiao felt uncomfortable under their stares, and he walked close beside me.

Carous led us to a hallway that was different from the others. The walls were lined with red lanterns and the doors were all made of metal. On each door was a red number which stood out against the dark metal. We stopped in front of a door numbered 21. Carous smiled as he unlocked this door and signaled for Jiao to come forth. He moved with reluctance, but eventually entered the room. Carous directed me to follow them into the room as well. Most likely he wanted to keep a close eye on me. I walked into the room after Jiao.

The room was large and beautifully decorated, the obvious focal point being the large bed in the center, though there was a sitting area and a small bar. There was also a large chest in front of the bed. Jiao took it upon himself to open the chest out of curiosity. I inwardly cringed at the objects it contained, which obvious Jiao didn't know what they were, or what they were used for. Carous stood at the door entrance, his eyes carefully watching us.

"This is your workplace, Jiao. After careful consideration, I have selected you to work here in this hall. We call this, Hall Rouge. Each Hall on this side of the building has a different color to represent different specializations. This particular hall specializes in fetishes."

Jiao had a blank, naïve look on his face. He obviously didn't have a clue about what he was talking about. I shook my head and grabbed Jiao's arm. I pulled him closer to me and whispered into his ear the best explanation of what his new occupation would involve. After I told him, his cheeks immediately flushed in embarrassment. Carous smiled.

"You are required to entertain at least twice a week." Carous said.

Jiao's face lit up. "Did you hear that Tseng! I only have to work twice a week!"

The short bird like man pointed to the door, which of course, didn't have a handle on the inside, but there was a number panel. There was no way this building would pass a safety test. How dangerous was that, having doors that only open from the outside. What if there was a fire?

"You can unlock the door from the outside, but once you're in, you're in. We use this as a precautionary just in case someone tries to escape. We do not restrict time limits on our customers, so they may choose to stay only an hour, or they may stay for the night. Only your customer can release you from your services. They have a code they have to enter to have the door opened. Once the code is entered, it signals to the front to send an escort to unlock the door."

This place was highly secure and thorough, I thought. It seemed more like a fancy prison, than a whorehouse. Jiao nodded in understanding and Carous signaled for us to exit. He placed the key in Jiao's hands and closed the door behind him. We walked through several more "colored" halls. Various colored lanterns lined the walls. I wondered what each color represented. At some time during our tour, Carous glanced back at me and grinned. I shot him a look of annoyance, but he shrugged it off.

Finally, we reached a hall that had black lanterns as it color. The dark shade of the lantern caused the hallway to be eerily dark. We stopped in front of a door numbered 6. He pulled out a black key and made to hand it to me. I scowled and refused to take it. Again, he shrugged his shoulders and reclined his hand. He opened the door slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. Once the door was unlocked, Carous' grin widened.

"It's because of your hostile attitude that I've chosen you for this particular hall. Most of our, "roughnecks" work here." He pushed the door opened and stood to the side, his arm outstretched."

"Please, go in." he said slyly. I raised a skeptical eyebrow, and proceeded to enter the dark room with caution, Jiao hot on my heels. It was pitch black in the room and I couldn't see a damn thing. I moved forward cautiously until I bumped into what I thought to be the bed. Oddly enough, when I hit the bed, I thought I heard the sound of something rattling. I kicked the bed and the clingy sound erupted again. What the hell?

"Would you please turn on the damn light." I commanded, more than asked.

"Why, certainly." Carous said; amusement obvious in his tone.

As soon as the light switch was flipped on, my eyes went wide in horror. I couldn't even stifle the, "Fucking hell" that slipped from my lips as the light revealed the room to me. The bed in front on me was huge, with black sheets with a crimson red trim. But the real horror was the chains that hung from the ceiling and dangled over the bed. I did a quick 360˚ of the room and my anxiety only escalated. Whips, chains, knives, sexual toys and other unmentionable paraphernalia hung on the dark walls. I shot a fierce, feral gaze at Carous. I was beyond livid. His amused smile did not falter though.

"I thought Bondage and Discipline would be the best choice for you, seeing as how you are so very much untamed."

That was it. I had had enough of this. There was only so much I could take. I made to cross the room and charge at him, but Jiao grabbed my arm in desperation. He wasn't very strong, though he was heavier than he looked. He held my arm tight; tears were starting to fall from his eyes. I continued to approach him, though Jiao was slowing me down. My eyes screamed bloody murder and I was more than ready to beat the hell out of this guy. Jiao was holding me back though, and was making it hard for me to reach Carous. I was built for speed and agility, but adrenaline was giving me an edge, and I began to drag him along.

"Get the fuck off of me!" I hissed out, enraged. My eyes still locked onto my target in front of me.

"Please, don't! Don't do this, Tseng!" Jiao pleaded with me. But I was too far gone. I barely heard his cries over the hot blood that was pounding in my head from anger. Jiao tried to pull me back, but he failed. I was getting closer.

"No, stop this!" the dark haired youth yelled.

I pressed forward until I was almost to him. I couldn't wait to wipe the grin off his ugly bird face. Suddenly, several guards rushed into the room, coming full force at me. Jiao immediately stopped pulling at me and stood frozen. I pushed him down and with headstrong determination, I charged the guards. I could still almost see the little figure of Carous by the door. Sneaky bastard, he had probably planned this all along.

The guards were definitely bigger than me, but they were much slower. I slipped through them easily, maneuvering through them as if they were minor obstacles. More guys rushed in and I scowled. I dodged their hits, and evaded their attempts to grab me.

Only one more huge guy stood in my way. A smirk graced my face as I slid underneath his meaty legs, and continued onto Carous. He was unprotected and open. I could hear the guards running after me, but they were to slow. I grabbed the crooked nosed bastard by his shirt and slammed him into a wall. The impact drew a startled gasp from his lips. I made a fist and drew my arm back, ready to hit this guy with all my might.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell is going on?" The plump figure of Pero Donte appeared through the door. He glanced at the scene and shook his head. "Can't you guys handle one little rambunctious whore!"

The guards looked embarrassed and stood awkwardly underneath the scrutinizing eyes of Pero Donte. I on the other hand, was considering whether or not I should land this punch in this asshole's face. It would be so easy just to break his face. I would love to hear the sickening crunch of his bones breaking.

Donte made a sound of disappointment with his teeth. "Didn't I tell you that if you misbehaved, it would be Jiao's liability?"

As if on cue, Jiao was hoisted up by the group of thugs and a gun pointed at his head, again for the second time today. His cries intensified.

Donte Pero glanced at me. "You have ten seconds to release him, or Jiao will be shot."

"Please Tseng, I don't want to die!" Jiao yelled fearfully.

"One. Two."

Damn it. I gritted my teeth and tightened my grip on Carous' shirt.

"Three. Four."

I would be so easy to hit him, all I had to do was forget about Jiao. If I didn't care about what happened to him, then they wouldn't be able to use him against me.

"Five. Six."

I glared at Carous who was practically grinned from ear to ear at my predicament. Wouldn't it have been funny to have seen the pained surprise on his face if I had shocked everyone and actually punched him?

"Seven. Eight. Nine."

"Oh god. Please save me Tseng." Jiao sobbed. "Please!"

Son. Of. A. Bitch. I shot one last glare at Carous before I released his shirt. He quickly moved to the side beside Pero Donte. The guards were among me within a matter of seconds. They grabbed me by my arms and shoved me down to my knees. I scowled in anger. Donte walked over to my forced kneeling form until he was standing right in from of me. I turned my head, mostly due to the fact that his crotch was in front of my face.

He grabbed my head and roughly yanked it up. I was staring eye to eye with him, amusement in his eyes, and anger in mine. An eerily wide smile graced his lips as he looked at me. He stroked my cheek with the backside of his other hand. I resisted the urge to draw back.

"You sure are a vicious one." His finger trailed over my lips and this time I did snap at him with my bared teeth. He immediately withdrew his hands from my mouth. His smile widened. He ran his fingers through my long dark hair softy, before he roughly grabbed a handful of it and violently yanked my head back. I hissed at the sharp pain and gritted my teeth. Suddenly, Donte wrapped his hands around my delicate neck. He constricted his hands and began to choke me.

I couldn't breathe and I felt his hands tighten around my throat. Dark spots danced in front of my eyes. My lungs convulsed, desperately seeking oxygen. Did he mean to choke me to death? I began to thrash and struggle violently against my captors, but they held me tight. I was becoming lightheaded and felt my life slipping away from me.

Suddenly, he released my throat and my head fell forward. I desperately gasped for breath as oxygen filled my lungs. Donte leaned down to my level, his face still smiling. He brushed his thumb against my cheek in an almost caring display. I was still panting for breath as he caressed my face. He placed two fingers underneath my chin and lifted my head up to look at him.

"You will submit." he said sharply. Then he stared me down, as if daring me to rebel. And rebel I did. I gave him a sly grin of my own, and laughed lowly, sounding borderline psychotic. His smile faded, obviously not expecting the reaction I gave. Once my laughter died down, I locked eyes with him again. My eyes were dilated and my lips curled up into and amused sly grin. He looked at me with confusion and a bit of fear.

"By holding me captive, you have condemned everyone here to death. You and your men will suffer and there will be no mercy." I said sharply, with edge.

Donte made a sound of annoyance with his teeth, trying to pretend my words hadn't affected him. But I could tell he was shaken. His eyes held a certain fear as he stared down at me. Suddenly, he slapped me hard in the face, causing my head to whip viciously to the side. My cheek stung but it wasn't anything I could handle. In his anger, he kicked me in my stomach and I grunted at the pain. He pressed his boot to my head and started to add pressure.

"Shut up you! How dare you threaten me, your owner and master! You belong to me and you will be submissive!" He slapped me and added more pressure to my head to put emphasis on his words.

"You see this; this is where you belong, underneath the sole of my shoe. You are nothing but a whore now, and you will obey me!" he hissed out. "Take him to his chambers, and make sure he stays there!"

They hauled me up roughly onto my feet, and began to escort me out of the room. But before I exited the room completely, I looked back at Donte and Carous. I shot them my most homicidal glare, one that promised death. They both tried to ignore my psychotic stare, but I could tell they were indeed shaken up. The eerie amused smile that always graced their faces was nowhere to be seen, and instead they had been replaced with tight lipped frowns. They knew they had their work cut out for them.

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**A/N: Review please and thanks! Next Chapter: Reno and Rude are out for vengeance. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Warnings: graphic violence, language. no-beta.**

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**Wonderland fallout**

"Where the fuck is he!" I demanded of our captive.

The young man shook his head, flinging wet tears of fear around. "I swear I don't fucking know!"

I scowled and hit the guy in the side of the head with my Electro Mag-Rod. His head whipped to the side painfully as blood from the impact splattered onto the ground.

In our rage, Rude and I had just about killed every Serpentine in the bar, with the exception of three, which we purposely kept alive. It had been mass genocide at that place, dead bodies lying everywhere with various pained expressions on their dead faces. When I had arrived back at Shin-Ra HQ, I was covered in blood and other unmentionable things. That was the only downside of using my weapon, it was short range and I had to get relatively close to the person I was trying to attack, thus blood splatter was common on my suits.

Rude had been truly amazing. He had managed to kill most of the Serpentines with no collateral damage in the process. He was precise, even in his rage. Though his expression had remained stoic and unchanged the whole time, I could feel the passionate anger radiating off of him. He had not been pleased in the least to have heard of what those bastards had done to our beloved leader. Together, we killed at least twenty of them. The bar looked like a war zone when we left. The Shin-Ra "clean up" crew took care of the mess we had made and paid the bar owner handsomely for all the damages.

We took three into custody: A baldheaded guy, their leader Dean, and a guy with dark curly hair who we were presently interrogating. The young man was tied up to a wooden chair, his hands strapped down to the armrests. We were about halfway through the interrogation and he hadn't given us anything useful. In my rage and need to find out about my boss, I was on the verge of losing it. I knew this guy had to know something, he just had to. I had to find out where Tseng was!

I grabbed the youth's face and began squeezing in my rage. "You're lying, I know you are!" I hissed out.

More tears of pain abruptly fell from the captive. Rude stood quietly from the side, carefully observing the captive for anything that would lead him to believe he was either telling the truth, or lying. I was so irrationally angry I didn't care if he was innocent or not, I had to take my frustration out on someone.

I pulled out my EMR and shoved it into the frantic youth's mouth; my finger lingered over the switch threateningly.

"If you don't tell me what I want to know, I'm going to fucking kill you with this." I threatened.

The captive cried out around the weapon and shook his head. I removed it briefly. "I swear to you, I do not know where Dean sold him to! He didn't tell us anything!"

I scowled at his pathetic excuse and turned to Rude for help, because I was surely about to kill this guy without cause just because I was angry and hurt. Rude took a step forward and approached the sitting captive. He grabbed the young man's face and stared into his eyes. It was a skill of Rude's to be able to tell if a man was lying or not. He stared good and long at the youth before casually walking away.

"What he says is the truth." The brooding Turk said.

I swore out loud in rage. I wanted so much for this guy to be lying so it would give me an excuse to hurt him. The youth sighed relief but that didn't mean he was in the clear yet. I pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the guy's head.

"Should I kill him?" I said, more to myself than to Rude. I wanted so desperately to kill him, I mean, we had killed all those other guys, why should he live? I looked into the young man's bright blue eyes, so full of fear and regret. I bit my lip at my indecisiveness.

Finally, after what seemed like hours more than a few minutes, I withdrew my weapon and placed it back into my holder. I untied him, but didn't give him permission to stand up. A sigh escaped my lips and I ran a hand through my spiky red hair.

"What's your name kid?" I asked.

"Daru." he said fearfully.

I pulled out a cigarette and lit it. I most definitely needed the nicotine to calm my nerves.

"Ya know, you're a pretty tough kid. Most guys would have lied or blamed someone else to save their own skin, but you stuck with the truth, and for that I commend you."

Daru seemed confused by my sudden change in demeanor, but I had meant every word. I absolutely hated when people tried to place the blame on others in order to save themselves. I stared at the young man again. He had long dark curly hair, bright blue eyes and a pretty face.

"How old are you anyway?" I asked curiously.

"Nineteen."

I took another drag of my cigarette. I approached the young man and he grew nervous.

"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you anymore. I promise." I said assuredly. I placed a hand on Daru's shoulder and he immediately tensed up. Rude was looking at me questionable, obviously not knowing what I was planning and especially not expecting what I was going to say next.

"How would you like to join the Turks?" I said evenly.

Daru's jaw dropped and the corner of Rude's mouth twitched.

"Reno, what the hell are you doing?" Rude questioned. I waved him off.

"I like this kid. He's got guts." I said, nudging him playfully.

Rude shook his head in disbelief. I smiled madly at Daru. For some odd reason, my gut was just telling me to give him this opportunity.

Daru looked at me with confused eyes. "But…weren't you just trying to kill me a minute ago?"

"Well, yeah. I was fucking pissed off and wanted to vent. No hard feelings, m'kay?" I said casually. Rude shook his head again.

"What!?" I snapped at Rude. "I know what I'm doing." I turned my attention back to Daru. "So whatdaya say, kid?"

Daru thought about it for a while. He looked up into my eyes. I winked at him in reassurance and grinned. He looked to Rude, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"It's up to you." I said.

The dark haired boy looked down at his shoes in thought. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he looked up at me with determination that even astonished me.

"Yes, I will become a Turk."

A wide smile graced my face and I patted the kid on the back. "Good choice, because if you didn't, then I would have had to kill you." I said through laughter, though Daru's face seemed horrified.

"I'm kidding dude." I said playfully. "Well you heard em' Rude, he's one of us now."

Rude shook his head and opened the door to the interrogation room. "Follow me, I will show you to your temporary quarters after I take you to the infirmary."

Daru nodded and stood to follow Rude. He looked back at me once more before a soft smile graced his face. "Thank you." He said quietly. I nodded my head at him and grinned cheekily. Once they were gone I did the Reno celebratory dance, which consisted of me doing the moonwalk while twirling my weapon around.

"Hell yes!" I said aloud. Tseng would be so proud of me recruiting a new member of our already scarce department. I couldn't wait to tell him of all the good things we've been doing. Suddenly my smile dissipated as I thought of him. Fuck, I missed him. Our department was holding up without him, but we needed him back to restore order. Our overseer Heidegger was useless and couldn't seem to do anything right now that Tseng wasn't here. The only thing he had done right was appoint Cissnei the head of the bombing investigation.

Even President Shin-Ra was starting to feel the effects of our missing leader. Tseng had been his source of security and organization when it came to any social event. And to be frank, I didn't know shit about organizing and whatnot. We depended on him for so much; it was hard to believe we hadn't completely collapsed without him, more specifically me.

My new PHS, which I had managed buy from the Shin-Ra electronic store, suddenly began vibrating.

"Yo, it's Reno." I answered.

"Are you alright?" The smooth voice of my friend and Vice President came across.

"I'm good." I said casually.

"Have you interrogated all the captives?"

"No, not yet. But oh yeah, good news! I got us a new recruit!"

"Oh, well good job." He said uncaringly.

"By the way, he's totally hot. Big baby blue eyes and dark curly hair, just like you like em' eh?" I said teasingly.

"S-Shut the hell up!" He said, embarrassed by my comment.

"I'm just foolin'. Anyway, once Rude gets back, were gonna interrogate the next guy. He's the sub-leader of the Serpentine gang. Goes by the name of Dean."

"Very good, keep up the good work." Then he added on a more somber note. "Tseng would be proud."

I smiled softly and nodded my head, though he couldn't see it. "Yeah, later Rufus."

I hung up and took a seat in the chair Daru had been sitting in. My original intention was to just let the kid go, but I had a good feeling about him. I didn't know what it was exactly, but I just knew I had to get him to join us.

Rude came in shortly after my phone call ended. "I placed him within the dorms." He said evenly.

"Good. I know he's gonna be a great addition to the Turks."

Rude shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever. Are you ready to interrogate the next one?" his voice was sharp and determined.

"Hell yes." I said clenching my weapon. "Now let's go fuck this bitch up." I said, my tone all seriousness. Rude nodded his head and we headed for the next holding cell.

I unlocked the door and kicked it open, startling the man who went by the name of Dean. He was as we requested, tied up to a chair and blind folded. I slammed the door loudly. He jumped up in surprise at the sound. I stared at him and smirked. This guy had no idea what he was in for. I approached him slowly and yanked his blindfold off. He blinked and shook his head at the feeling of being disoriented. Once his eyes focused, he stared up at us with anger evident in his eyes.

"Where the fuck is this?" he yelled.

"This?" I mocked him. "This…is hell."

Rude stood next to the doorway as I began to circle our captive. It was taking all of my restraint to not lash out at him. I stopped right in front of him and pointed my EMR at him. He drew back away from my weapon, but he didn't seem as scared as I would have liked for him to be. I smirked; he'd be scared soon enough.

"Tell me, what have you done to our boss?" I asked sharply.

Suddenly, Dean laughed. "That faggot looking bitch was the Turk leader! Oh man this is rich, you gotta be…"

He was effectively cut off by my fist. I punched him hard the mouth. The interrogation just started and he was already starting to piss me the fuck off. Even Rude had tensed up at the man's offensive words. Dean spat out a mouthful of blood and glared at me, but did not otherwise speak.

"Where is he?" I asked him through gritted teeth.

"I dunno." He said through a smirk. I whacked him in the head with my weapon, drawing a loud pained grunt from him. He looked at me with even more intense eyes than before.

"Where is he?" I repeated sharply. Stubbornly, Dean shook his head.

"I do not know where the bitch is." He said defiantly.

I hit him again. "I'm not fucking around here! Where is my boss?"

"I don't know, hopefully dead." He snickered. This time, I turned on my weapon to medium and pressed it into his ear. He wailed in pain and tried to shake his head away from the weapon. I pulled it away and watched as blood oozed from his ear. The smell of burnt flesh filled the room. Dean bit his lip to keep from crying out again. I didn't give him any recovery time.

"Fucking answer my question!" I yelled.

Dean yelled back. "Fuck you!"

I used my fist to punch him the nose this time, breaking it. He howled in excruciating pain as blood poured from his nose. I grabbed his face roughly, my square tipped nails digging into the flesh of his face. My eyes were feral and vicious. I was so angry, I was borderline irrational. I tightened my grip on his face and blood oozed around my fingernails.

"Where is Tseng?" I said, my tone sharp and threatening. Dean glared at me defiantly.

"He's gone."

"Gone where?"

"To fucking hell!" he snapped out. I gritted my teeth and hooked my nails into his flesh. He cried out at the pain and tried to shake my hand off his face, but all it did was make me squeeze tighter. I was yelling now.

"Where is Tseng? Tell me now! What did you do to him?"

"I'll never give you the satisfaction of knowing!" he yelled.

In my rage I cried out angrily and ripped my embedded nails from his flesh. Blood spurted out the indents in his face. He cried out in pain but I didn't care. I was angry, and frustrated. I hit him in the side of the head with my weapon. Then I hit him again and again.

"Tell me where he is!" I said while beating the shit out of him. He howled in pain as I continued my onslaught. I turned up my weapon to high and continued to hit him in the face repeatedly. He screamed as the weapon burned his flesh and marred his skin.

"Talk!" I yelled, pulling back momentarily.

Dean was in so much pain he was on the verge of passing out. Not yet, I thought. I grabbed him by his neck and squeezed.

"Where is Tseng." I asked sharply.

Dean's mind must have been gone from the pain because he started to laugh. He looked at me with unfocused eyes and smirked.

"I'm not telling you shit. I don't care if I die because my brother will avenge me. He'll kill you both."

I ignored him. "Where is Tseng? Tell me! Tell me now!"

"I don't know where he is, but I know he's worth over half a million Gil. Maybe if you ever find him, he'll give you a discount!" he mocked.

I released his neck and stomped off. I need to calm down; otherwise I would kill him before I got the information I needed. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. But Dean was hell bent on pissing me off.

"I'll tell you something." Dean said.

I looked at him and approached him quickly, with heated intensity. "What?" I hissed out.

He grinned and looked directly into my eyes. "When I fucked him, he moaned like a bitch and begged me for more, just like the pathetic…"

I hit him with my weapon again, this time I couldn't stop. I struck him again and again. His skin was horribly burnt and beyond repair, but still I hit him again and again. I was hitting him with all my might, releasing all my woes and hurts into my hits. I was so upset, tears of frustration and anger we forming in my eyes.

"Tell me where he his!" I yelled angrily. I struck his head so hard I was starting to hear the sickening crunch of bones breaking.

"Reno."

I heard my name in the distant but I didn't care. I kept on hitting his burned, bloody flesh.

"Where is Tseng? Where is my leader?" I kept yelling out, although I knew he couldn't answer me.

"Where is my Tseng, tell me!"

"Reno!"

"Tell me, please!" I yelled, tears streaming down my cheeks as I continued to strike his limp, unmoving form.

"Please, where is my Tseng. Where is my leader?" I said, my voice dying down.

Suddenly, I felt someone grab the arm I had been striking with. I tried to swing again, but they prevented me from doing so. I turned to the person, with tears burning down my cheeks. The first thing I noticed was that Rude wasn't wearing his shades. His sharp hazel eyes seemingly peered into my soul. I tried to look away from his enchanting eyes, but found that I could not. No wonder Rude wore glasses all the time; his eyes were like an open book. I could read every emotion on his face.

I could see he was just a worried as I was, but he had been hiding his true emotions behind his tinted shades. Anguish, pain, anger, and sadness were all gleaming in his eyes, though his facial features remained impassive.

"Reno." he said softly.

I calmed down at the sound of his soothing tone. Tears were still falling from my eyes involuntarily as I stared upon my partners face.

"Rude…" I croaked out through a sob.

"Its okay, Reno. We will find him and everything will be fine." Rude said in a tone so soft I almost didn't believe he was saying it, although I was seeing his lips move.

I wiped my tears on the sleeve of my jacket and nodded my head in agreement. Rude released my arm and I dropped my weapon. He put his shades back on which acted as an emotional barrier to the world. I looked back at the dead form of Dean. I didn't even know when I had killed him. I had been so lost in my emotions. He looked truly awful and I took off my jacket and draped it over his head. Rude was already at the door, waiting for me. I glanced back at his dead form once more, and then exited the room.

I needed to sleep and renew myself. We still had one more captive left, but If Daru said that Dean hadn't told them anything about the seller, then I was relatively sure that this other guy didn't know shit. Now we had no leads and we were back at square one. I swore out loud and ran my fingers through my red locks in frustration.

My phone rang again and I picked it up. "Reno, here." I said dully.

"Hello Lieutenant Commander, It's Reeve."

"Drop the damn formalities. Whatca' want?"

"I just wanted to let you know if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know."

"Thanks, Reeve." I said appreciatively. Reeve was a close friend of Tseng's and I knew he wanted to help, but I just didn't know what he could do.

"Good luck, Reno." He said before hanging up.

I closed my phone and contemplated heading home to my place but I didn't want to go all the way to the LOVELEES district, so I decided I'd invite myself over a friend's house who lived right here at HQ. I waved goodbye to Rude and headed to the elevators. I then pushed the button that would take me to Rufus Shinra's floor.

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**A/N: Chapter made me cringe a bit. Anyway, next update should be up within the week. Till next time! Reviews much appreciated.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Wow, quick update. **

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Wonderland fallout 12

Reno POV

I banged on the door of the young executive's. It was late, but I knew Rufus wouldn't be asleep; the guy was definitely a night person. The door opened to reveal the vice president dressed in his white silk nightwear. He eyed me suspiciously before stepping to the side to let me in.

"Thanks pal." I said while sauntering into his nice spacious apartment.

"Whatever." Rufus said uncaringly.

I kicked off my shoes and placed them to the side, as was his policy to do so. Once I had removed them, I headed over to his kitchen. I opened the fridge and began grabbing anything I could eat without cooking. Rufus sighed in annoyance behind me.

"What! I'm hungry!" I snapped.

"Why is it every time you're here you feel the need to ransack my fridge?"

"Umm, cause I don't have any food."

He rolled his eyes and sat at the counter, a glass of wine in his hand. Once I had gathered all my treats, I took a seat next to him. He looked tired and a bit stressed out. He took a sip of his wine and swirled it around in his glass. I took a bite of my ham sandwich and looked at Rufus with concerned eyes.

"You alright there, kid?" I said with a mouth full of sandwich.

Rufus scowled in disgust. "Close your damn mouth, and stop call me _kid._ I am not a child anymore." He snapped bitterly.

It was my turn to roll my eyes. Rufus could be such a prick sometimes. "Sheesh. I was just seeing if ya were okay."

"Well…I'm fine." He said with slight uncertainty and down casted eyes. I placed down my food and shook my head.

"You're not fine. Tell me what's wrong?" I turned my full attention to the young blond, but he was insistent.

"I am fine. Nothing is wrong." He stated sharply without looking at me.

"So you're telling me that _nothing_ is wrong?" I questioned again.

"Yes, I am fine! Just stop pestering me!" He stood up from the table and walked over to the living area. I took another big bite of my sandwich then followed in pursuit. He sat crossed legged on the plush wine colored sofa. I plopped down next to him and attempted to put my arm around his shoulder in comfort. Rufus scowled and pushed my arm away.

"Shit! I'm trying to be comforting here!" I said in frustration.

"I don't need comfort." He hissed out bitterly.

I made a sound of irritation with my teeth and scooted away from him. "Well fine then." I stretched out on the couch with my feet almost touching the blonds' leg.

We sat in sat in silence for a while. I closed my eyes and yawned. I was thoroughly tired and I needed some rest if Rude and I were to resume our search tomorrow. Today had been a big success and a big failure at the same time. We had killed a lot of the Serpentine gang and had managed to get some hints from the recently dead Dean. I pondered what it was he had said, "_I don't know where he is, but I know he's worth over half a million Gil. Maybe if you ever find him, he'll give you a discount!"_

The vicious words he had spoken had actually been a small, but notable indication of where Tseng might possibly be. We just needed to decipher it. Half a million Gil, I thought. Who the hell in Midgar had that kind of money? Shit, nobody but Shin-Ra executives. But I didn't think one of them would actually want to get rid of Tseng, but I couldn't rule out any possibilities. However, it was the last part of what he had said that confused the shit out of me. Maybe he'll give me a discount? What the hell did that mean?

I was snapped out of my thoughts as I felt Rufus' crystal blue eyes staring down at me. I opened one eye and raised my brow in question.

"Do…you have any leads?" he asked quietly. A grin was starting to form on my lips but I resisted the urge. I knew Rufus was still upset about Tseng's disappearance, though he was trying to hide it, as usual. I could read the kid like an open book.

"To be honest, we have some…slightly miniscule leads, but…"

"But what?" Rufus snapped.

"Well, "I said uneasily. "I kind of…killed our source."

Rufus was instantly livid. "You did what!?"

I bit my lip and fidgeted with my fingers nervously.

"I can't believe you Reno!" he said angrily. He rose from the couch and began to walk away from me. I jumped up and grabbed his arm, halting him. He tried to yank his arm away but I held him tight.

"I know I messed up, but…"

"Hell yeah you messed up!" he yelled.

"But wait, I still got good news. My back up plan."

He stopped thrashing and looked at me inquisitively. "Go on."

"Well you know that new kid I recruited, Daru? Well I'm going to use him to help us with our search."

"How?" He said incredulously. I released his arm and smirked.

"Okay here's my plan. Daru was with the Serpentine gang, right? So he most likely knows who anybody of importance is within the Slum world. He's like our inside source. I'm gonna have him help us find someone who might know where Tseng is? You see the logic?"

Rufus pondered momentarily. "I guess I do see your point. But how do we know he won't betray us? I mean, I'm sure his loyalties don't lie with Shin-Ra."

I smiled madly then. "Of course his loyalties don't lie with Shin-Ra, but they don't lie with his gang either."

"How do you reckon?"

"Reckon? What the hell. Since when do you say that? You been hanging around them ole country SOLDIER's, Genesis and Angeal?"

"Just shut up and answer my question." He snapped.

I snickered. "Okay. Well when we were interrogating him, I noticed that he didn't have the Serpentine symbol on his arm. He most likely hasn't been fully initiated into the gang yet."

"I see. So your goal is too…?"

"Get him to ally with us and use his information to aid the Turks!" I said proudly. I was very pleased with my well thought out plan.

Rufus smirked. "So I guess you have brain after all?" he said smugly.

"Hey! I gotta brain, and it's gonna save Tseng too."

"I hope so." Rufus said so softly I barely heard him. He stared off into space with a distant look on his face. I recognized that look. He was thinking of Tseng. A slight flush filled his cheeks.

Although Rufus and I were friends, it was hard sometimes to be around him. Mostly for the fact that we were both madly in love with the same man, though Rufus hadn't made his feelings known. Well, I hadn't exactly told Tseng how I felt about him either. I mean, I flirted playfully with him but I didn't think he ever took anything seriously. Plus, I didn't know if was even attracted to me, or if he even liked men for that matter.

But I knew for a fact that Rufus was in love with Tseng. He never voiced it or even lightheartedly flirted with the Turk. But I still noticed it right off the back. They way his cheeks would turn pink whenever Tseng helped him at the gun range was definitely indication of his feelings. Sometimes, when I wasn't sleeping during staff meetings, I would catch him staring at Tseng subtly in the corner of his eye. Oh he definitely wanted the Turk, but so did I.

The funny thing was, we both knew of each other's feelings toward the Turk, and we competed against each other for his attention. Sure it was childish, but I didn't care. Rufus would always request that Tseng be with him almost every time he went out. I on the other hand got his attention by getting into trouble, which usually earned me a seat in his office. Actually, trouble just came naturally to me so it wasn't that hard. I'd sit in his office and throw him a couple of winks here and there. He would ignore my flirtatious ways and send me home with deducted pay. A small price to pay.

I thumped Rufus in the arm and he snapped out of his daydream.

"Thinking of a certain someone, hmm?" I said teasingly.

Rufus' blush intensified and he stomped off, thoroughly embarrassed. "Nooo!" he yelled back defensively.

I laughed and returned to the kitchen to eat the rest of my food, a smirk plastered on my face.

…

The next morning, Rude and I went to Daru's room. We needed to get as much information from him as we possibly could. I banged hard on the door.

"Hey! Wake the fuck up!" I yelled.

There was the sound of rustling before the door opened to reveal a sleepy eyed Daru. He looked up at us with big round, sleepy blue eyes and yawned. His long curly hair was a mess of tangles. I grinned in amusement at the sight.

"Have a good night bed head?" I said jokingly. Daru rubbed the sleep from his eyes and nodded his head.

"Yes actually, best sleep I've had in ages; never slept on a mattress that wasn't old and springy."

I nodded my head in understanding. I had been in the same position this kid was in before. Daru stepped to the side to let us in. Rude and I walked in and suddenly, memories of this place flooded into my thoughts. Tseng and I used to share a room similar to this back when we attended the Shin-Ra Academy. We had some good times back then. Tseng would stay up late and work on assignments, and I'd be knocked out sleep, not bothered with worthless things such as homework. Also back then, Tseng had such a cute accent. It was almost nonexistent now, and only certain words caused him trouble. I smiled in remembrance of the cute, wide eyed and baby faced fifteen year old Tseng. He was so pretty, and was often mistaken for a girl.

Yup, those were the good old days. I took a seat in an empty chair and turned my attention to Daru. Rude choose to stand at the door. I crossed my legs and leaned casually back in the chair.

"Alright Daru, although you still have to go to the Shin-Ra academy for training, we're going to enlist your help as of right now."

Daru stared at me with confusion in his blue eyes. "Shin-Ra Academy?"

"Yeah, don't worry its standard procedure."

"How long do I have to go for."

"About a year or so for you. It's mostly basic training, but in-between your training and classes, you'll be working with us on minor cases, just to give you some experience."

Daru nodded his head in understanding. "How long did you attend Shin-Ra Academy?" He asked curiously.

I grinned. "Well, I attended for about four years. I had to go there for my high-school education as well."

"So…is it hard? I mean…to get into the Turks?"

"Well yes and no. If you do good out on the field, then you can still get in even if your class work is mediocre. But you have to be an exceptional student in order to do that."

"Oh, you know anyone who has done it that way?"

I smiled cheekily. "Yours truly." I said, pointing to myself. "I was so good in the field, my grades were overlooked."

Daru smiled and nodded his head. I stretched my arms and relaxed back into the seat.

"Alright kid, this is what we need you to help us out with now." I said, changing subjects.

"Okay, what can I do to help?" He asked eagerly.

"I need you to tell me anything you know in regards ta Tseng."

"Okay," he said taking a deep breath. "Well, I don't know a lot but I'll try my best."

"Good enough. Go ahead."

"Well, being a rookie as I was, I never actually saw him, but one of the guys who had been with Dean at the time they had discovered the man, was telling us of all the…dirty things they done to him. I won't repeat what he said, but it was truly awful. Anyway, the guy kept talking about how they were going to get a huge payout, but he never told any of us where the money was going to come from. We didn't believe him at first, but then a few days later, our middleman came with mass suitcases filled with money. I've never seen so much at one time in my whole life."

"After he had given tribute to the boss and taken out a huge cut for himself, he said the rest of the money was ours."

I thought about what he said and something stood out. "Middleman?" I questioned.

"Yes, our middleman was the one who took care of money transactions and managed our dealings."

"Hmm, does this middleman have a name?"

Daru pondered. "Um…If I recall correctly, he went by the name of …Faire?" Yes I'm sure of it, his name was Faire."

I suddenly bolted up from my chair in surprise. "Did you just say, Faire?" I questioned again.

"Yes. He always wore these outrageous clothes and had really long hair. He was a rather strange fellow, but he apparently made the Serpentine gang financially stable."

I kicked the chair enraged. "Fuck!" I swore out loud. Faire, that prick. I remember him like it was yesterday. We had been sent to threaten him under pretenses that he was smuggling Shin-Ra stolen goods. The guy was real asshole. He had been practically raping Tseng with his eyes. I scowled and bit my lip in aggravation.

"Reno." Rude said. "Wasn't Faire Tseng's last case, right before the bombing?"

I nodded my head. "Shit, we gotta go find this fucker. I'm pretty sure he knows where Tseng is."

I turned to Daru. "Where can we find him?" I said more harshly than I had intended.

"Umm…he can usually be found at the rundown strip bar in sector 3. That's where he handles his daily dealings."

"Alright, Rude. We're heading over there tonight."

The brooding man silently agreed. I looked down at Daru and grinned. "Thanks kid, you've been a great help."

He smiled lightly. "Anytime."

….

Rude and I arrived at the bar around seven. I entered the lively little bar and took a seat in the corner. A waitress, the same one who had been our server when Tseng was last here with me, approached us with a wide grin. We declined to order anything. I searched through the strobe lighted darkness for the face of the man Faire. When I didn't see him, I scowled in annoyance. Shit, where was this guy?

We stayed there for about two hours and still no sign of Faire. I had been watching the strip show with little to no interest. Rude though, had been thoroughly enjoying the show. His face didn't actually show any emotion of gratification, but he never took his eyes off the stage. The women were pretty, but I just wasn't attracted to them, not physically. I laid my head on the table and kept my eyes focused on the door.

Another half hour passed and still no sign of him. Maybe he wasn't coming today? Just as I was about to suggest to Rude we should leave, the blond haired bastard sauntered in. Just like the last time I had seen him, he was wearing another ridiculous outfit. He had on a long leopard print trench coat, over a bright pink leotard. For his pants, neon yellow leather topped with heeled magenta knee high boots. To me, he looked like a train wreck, or a hooker who might have been colorblind.

I tapped Rude on his shoulder, snapping him out of his fixation on the stage. "Eh, that's the guy." I said, tilting my head in his direction.

Rude nodded his head. "Let's go."

We stood and walked cautiously over to where Faire had taken his seat. He had those two huge bodyguards with him, but I wasn't worried. I had Rude with me and he was just as strong as those guys. Faire saw us approach and a wide grin graced his face. My fists involuntarily tightened as I had the urge to hit him. His bodyguards stood up and crossed their arms as we approached. They were big, but what made them less imposing was the dumb "look at me, I'm so tough" look on their faces. I rolled my eyes.

"Sit the fuck down you two morons." I snapped at his bodyguards. The two big men rose up their fists, but with a snap from Faire, they backed off. He signaled for us to sit, which I did, but Rude remained standing as usual.

"So," Faire began. "For what reason do I owe the pleasure of being visited again by the infamous Turks?" he said slyly.

I glared menacingly at him. "You know why we're fucking here." I hissed out bitterly.

"No, I'm afraid I do not."

It was taking all I had to control my anger. "Fine then, I'll tell you why we're here. We know you came in contact with one of our Turks. We have reason to believe you know where he is."

Faire couldn't even restrain his smile. "A Turk, now which Turk would this be exactly?" he said, pressing a finger to his lips and looking up as if he were really thinking. My fingers were twitching underneath the table.

"Oh!" Faire exclaimed. "Would this Turk by any chance have long dark hair, a great ass, and a face that would make any young boy cum at the sight?" he said vulgarly.

"Fuck you." I hissed out through gritted teeth. Once again, this guy was pushing my buttons.

"Mmm…I might have seen him, though I can't seem to recall where?" he said sarcastically.

"Tell us where he is."

Faire flipped his long blond hair and gave me an irritated pompous look. "And why should I tell you that?"

"Because if you don't, I'll kill you." I said threateningly.

Faire wasn't fazed. He signaled for the waitress to bring him a round of beers. She obediently came and placed a beer in front of every man present. She tried to give Rude one, but he didn't take. She placed his on the table next to mine before leaving. Faire popped open his beer and drank. Once he had drunken his fill, he released a contented sigh.

"You're not going to kill me." he said casually.

"What makes you say that?" I hissed out.

Faire snickered. "Because, only I know how to find the buyer of your friend."

"Elaborate."

He took a sip of his drink. "The buyer is very hard to reach and he only deals with certain suppliers. And as it turns out, I'm the only one he deals with in this city."

I glanced at Rude from the corner of my eye. The corner of his mouth had tightened meaning he didn't like the way this was going.

Suddenly, realization hit me like a ton of bricks. It was all starting to make sense. The mocking words of Dean, the subtle hints he had said. A look of horror crossed my face, which was soon replaced by a fierce look of fury.

"Where the fuck did you sell him to?" Anger laced in my tone.

Faire grinned madly. "Why, to a whorehouse of course. Biggest payout I've had in a long while."

As if sensing my reaction ahead of time, Rude and grabbed my shoulders and held me back before I could lunge at him. His bodyguards stood up and moved to protect Faire. I was about to scream profanities and threats but Rude covered my mouth. Boy did he know me well. He didn't want to cause a scene. He pulled me back with his hand still over my mouth.

"Reno, you need to calm down."

I struggled in his grasp, still wanting to go and attack the man. Rude wasn't relenting and would not until I calmed down. It was hard, but I eventually calmed down enough for Rude to remove his hand from my mouth. And after a few minutes, he released my arm. I took a deep breath and sat back down. Faire smiled at me.

"You gonna be okay?" he said condescendingly.

I resisted the urge to retort. I needed to stay calm and figure out away to get him to tell us where this seller was.

"Faire, tell me what will it take for you to tell us where the buyer is? Or better yet, where Tseng is?" I asked straightforwardly. I was willing to do just about anything to get my boss back.

Faire grinned. "Well, I'll be honest with you. I do not know where this exclusive whorehouse is located exactly, but I do know how to reach the buyer. I will tell you, but as payment I want you both to do something for me."

I looked up at Rude and he nodded his head. "Umm, okay. What exactly do you want us to do?"

Faire leaned back in his chair and practically beamed at us. "I would like you both to supply me with twenty cases of materia, twenty cases of handguns and ten cases of assorted weapons."

Shit. I swore. That was everything the people of the slums did not need to have access to. But if it was to get Tseng back…

"Okay fine, damn it." I snapped out.

"Also…"

"Shit, there's more!" I snapped, cutting Faire off. "What more could you want from us? Fuck."

Faire rolled his eyes. "Calm down. I don't want any more merchandise. All I have is one more, simple request to be done after you have supplied me with my products."

"Which is…?"

Faire smiled. "All I want for you to do is… watch a video."

I raised a brow in question. "What the fuck kind of request is that?"

He ignored my insult. "Do we have a deal or not?" he said sharply.

I sighed and looked up at Rude for consensus. With great reluctance, he nodded his head. I turned back to Faire and extended my hand. He reached for it and shook it firmly.

"It's a deal then."

* * *

**Reviews welcome :) **


	13. Chapter 13

**Warnings throughout this story: strong Language, abuse, graphic m/m relations, violence, rape/bondage, favors, etc…**

* * *

Wonderland Fallout 

**Tseng's POV**

I had been confined to my room for the time being, which was fine with me. I had no desire to see any of my captors, lest I lose it and attack them again in my irrationality. I was sitting on the couch in the mini parlor area, casually drinking a bit of very good rum. It was deliciously aged and burned pleasantly going down. A sigh of contentment slipped through my lips. I poured another glass and sipped leisurely at it. My eyes closed as I enjoyed my drink.

As I drank my rum, my mind began wander. So much had happened to me in such a short amount of time, it almost seemed unreal. But as I looked around at my surroundings, I knew it was very real. This place, this horrid prison like whorehouse was essentially my reality until I could find out a way to escape. I sighed in annoyance. Finding a way to escape this place was going to be one of the greatest challenges of my career. Never had I seen such high tech precautionary measures used for such a "profession" as whoring.

It began to make me wonder why Pero Donte would go through so much trouble to protect his investments. Of course, the substantial amount of money he spent for a potential whore was reason enough to want to make sure his investments didn't run off, but still. This place was too well guarded for only a service such as prostitution. Something else must be going on within these highly protected walls as well. I didn't know what it was, but I was relatively sure something was happening.

My thoughts shifted gears to my comrades back at Shin-Ra HQ. I wondered what was happening with them. Were they okay? Were they still recovering from their injuries? What was happening with the Turks? I groaned in frustration. So many questions, but no answers. It made me upset that I didn't know what was going on outside of these walls. There wasn't even a phone in our room. No contact from the outside.

Although I felt slightly guilty for doing it, I thought about Reno individually. I missed him madly, and the other Turks as well, but it was more special with Reno because I was in love with him. I'd give anything just to hear his voice or see a glimpse of that fiery red hair. And on top of Reno's rash, and at the same time contradictory laidback personality, he was so very good looking. With pale skin, unique aquamarine eyes and sharp regal features. Damn did I miss that redheaded nuisance.

I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts as I felt a pair of dark curious eyes on me. Jiao, the pain in the ass youth, approached and took a seat next to me.

"Tseng?"

I resisted the urge to sigh in irritation. This kid had been bothering me for the past few hours. Always about the same subject, always the same question.

"Will it hurt?" he asked, looking up at me with innocent eyes.

Inwardly I wanted to hit him so bad for asking the same repetitious question. I took another sip of my drink and tried to ignore him. Not so with Jiao. He moved even closer and continued to stare at me with wide eyes, awaiting my answer regardless of how long he would have to wait. I continued to ignore him for about a good twenty minutes, but his relentless staring was starting to annoy me. Jiao moved closer and kept his eyes locked onto my face. He was so close to me I could feel his warm breath on my neck. Finally, after about a half hour, I conceded.

"Yes, there is a high possibility. Now stop asking me the same annoying question." I said evenly.

"Mmm, okay." Jiao said satisfied, though he didn't stop his staring.

"What?" I asked him annoyed.

"Um…can I ask you another question? It's a different one this time."

I groaned in annoyance. "Sure. Whatever."

"Okay, here goes." He bit his lip and fidgeted awkwardly with his fingers. Common body language signs of discomfort, meaning whatever he was about to ask me was personal.

"Umm…have you ever had …sex with…another man?" His cheeks were blushing furiously. He looked up at me through his long dark lashes, giving him a doe eyed appearance.

Although I was slightly taken aback by his question, I didn't see any reason to not tell him the truth.

"Yes I have." I stated plainly.

Jiao nodded his head. "So...you know how it feels then?"

"Yes, I do."

"So…"

"Jiao." I stopped him abruptly. I was becoming highly annoyed with his continuous questions. "Refrain from bombarding me with these endless series of questions."

Jiao pouted and made a face of melancholy. "I'm sorry Tseng. I'm just scared."

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. As skilled as I was in battle and intense combat situations, I was absolutely clueless when it came to these types of problems. I could decipher codes and even disarm active bombs, yet I hadn't the slightest clue of how to help Jiao. Of course I knew he was scared, but what could I do to help him? I couldn't think of a damn thing. Maybe I should just ask him, because I didn't know where to start. Now it was my turn to be awkward.

"Jiao," I coughed as to clear my throat. "What can I do to…help you." For some reason, those last two words came out relatively hard.

A faint blush graced Jiao's face. "Well…could you tell me about your first experience?" He looked up at me expectantly.

I involuntarily tensed up. "No I will not." I said, my voice more harsh than I would have liked.

Jiao looked saddened and drew up his legs onto the couch, his arms wrapped around them as he lowered his head. I inwardly swore, I hadn't meant to hurt his feelings, but the memory was just to painful for me to not react as I did. With a heavy sigh, I moved over to Jiao and reached my hand out to touch his shoulder. I immediately withdrew my hand when I heard sobs coming from him.

"Jiao?" I prodded, feeling guilty. I didn't mean to make him cry. I called his name again and he looked up at me with distressed, tearful eyes. The look he gave me almost made me want to shoot myself point blank, almost. His bottom lip quivered and his cheeks reddened from the intensity of his weeping.

"You hate me! I know you do!" he cried out in Wutaiian.

"I do not hate you." I stated plainly, in English.

Jiao shook his head. "Yes you do! You hate me!"

"Jiao, why would you think I hate you?"

He looked at me with large, sad eyes; a pout on his pretty face. "Because of me…you're still here."

"Jiao…" I stared into his eyes, which reflected so much sadness. Suddenly, I turned my head away from him, unable to look into that all too familiar expression. That look, those sad and troubled eyes reminded me of a certain someone; that someone being my friend and love interest, Reno. When I had first met Reno, those years ago, he had so much vigor, so much energy and life. He was more than a handful. I remember I had been upset at first when they had assigned him to my dorm room. He never cleaned up his mess, and certainly didn't do his assignments.

He annoyed me to no end, especially at night when I'd be trying to study and he'd be snoring so loud I couldn't concentrate. However; on the nights he didn't sleep, he'd just stare outside of the window into the distant. One time I walked over to him as he was gazing and tapped him to get his attention. When he turned to face me, the look he had was so sad, so full of longing and disappointment. The same look Jiao was giving me now.

I've only seen that look once from Reno, and after that night, I never saw that face again, though he continued to gaze out.

I turned back to Jiao, who was crying into his hands. I grabbed his arms and pulled them away from his face. Teary eyes met mine in distress.

"It is not your fault. Yes they are using you against me, but it is not your fault, none of this is your fault. Do you understand me?" I said as reassuringly as I could.

Jiao sniffled. "But…but…"

I placed my fingers underneath his chin and lifted his head up so he was staring me right in the face.

"It is not your fault. I hold no ill will towards you." I said firmly.

Jiao down casted his eyes, and nodded his head in acceptance. I breathed a sigh of relief and made to stand up, but Jiao grabbed my arm. He clung to it desperately and pressed his cheek against my forearm. I could feel his slowly stopping tears run down my flesh.

"Do you think you'll ever escape from this place?" he said softly.

I nodded my head surely. "Yes, I am certain of it."

"When you do escape, promise you'll take me with you?" his voice was barely above a whisper. I looked down at his small form.

"Yes, Jiao. I will."

He smiled against my arm before releasing it. Once I was free, I made my way over to the huge bed and nestled under the heavy sheets. I was tired, and in desperate need of rest. As I drifted off to sleep, I felt a warm body slip next to mine.

"Jiao, what are you doing?" I asked slightly irritated.

He snuggled against my back and pulled more cover over us. He lay there next to me, apparently very comfortable. I would have argued against it, but I was too tired. I closed my eyes and was soon fast asleep, the heat of Jiao's breath constant on my back.

…

My senses were alerted as I heard the sound of the door open. I remained motionless, but peered through squinted eyes. Carous and a few of his thugs had entered. I closed my eyes and pretended to still be asleep. Carous approached the bed and chuckled in amusement.

"How cute." He said at the sight of Jiao smuggled up to me. The birdlike man extended his hand and made to caress my face. My eyes flew open and locked onto his with murderous intent. He immediately withdrew his hand, though the crooked smile remained.

"Glad to see you're up." he said.

I sat up and glared at Carous. "What the hell do you want?" I hissed out.

Carous smirked. "As soon as we posted your picture in our "book of selective merchandise", customers immediately wanted to have you. You're already booked solid."

I remained silent as Carous continued. "Your first customer has demanded to have you a.s.a.p, and has paid a considerable amount of money to have you available to him within the next half hour."

Carous suddenly tossed an outfit onto the bed. I made no move to examine it.

"Get dressed and be ready within 30 minutes."

"And if I don't?" I questioned defiantly.

The beak nosed man smirked as he made to exit the room. "Remember," he said pausing momentarily at the door. "It's is not only your life you hold in your hands, but Jiao's. Now dress." He said promptly before closing the door, the guards exiting.

Once they left, I released a frustrated sigh. I glanced down at Jiao who had slept through the whole event. His fingers were curled tightly around the dark blankets, a peaceful look on his face. The corner of my mouth twitched, threatening to curl into a grin at the adorable sight.

With great reluctance, I slipped out of bed and grabbed the outfit which was inside a blue garment protector. I unzipped the protector and pulled out the outfit. I stared at it and mentally swore. The garment was a black silk kimono, similar to the one I had on at the moment, the only difference was that this new kimono rose up to my thighs. My eye twitched as I placed the piece to the side and examined the other items. This time I did swear out loud. I held the object up to my face and cringed. There was no way in hell I could wear this.

What I had in my hands was a shiny black thigh high boots, with a four inch heel. A pair of…well…I don't know what the hell they were called, but they resembled some sort of netted stockings. I was glad Jiao was asleep; because I'm sure the look of horror on my face would have been quite comical. I dropped the boots and stockings in disgust. There were a pair of clip on earrings in the bag and I tossed them aside. Finally, the only thing remaining was the undergarments. I picked them up between my thumb and forefinger as if they were disease infected.

"Holy shit." I swore in total dismay. The lacy undergarments looked extremely uncomfortable. I dropped them and took a step back from the atrocious clothing. There was no, way. No way in hell I could do this. I began to pace back and forth in the room, my fingers laced into my hair in frustration. I shook my head frantically as thoughts of rebellion raced through my mind. But then, I had Jiao to worry for and I didn't know if they would be so merciful as to spare him a third time.

I glanced up at the clock. I had twenty minutes to get dressed. Damn it. I looked at the scandalous outfit again and groaned in irritation.

"Fuck!" I swore out loud. "I can't do this. I cannot do this." I repeated frantically.

For the second time that night I felt like putting a bullet between my eyes. I just couldn't do it, but I knew I had to. I walked over to the small bar area and poured myself a glass of whiskey. It burned going down, but I needed it to help calm my nerves. I looked at the clock, fifteen minutes. Damn it, what was I going to do? I'm a Turk; I just cannot degrade myself like this. But if I didn't then Jiao was going to die. I walked over to where he was sleeping soundly. He looked even younger when he was asleep, all curled up into the sheets, the large bed seemingly consumed his small form.

Damn, I knew what I had to do.

I picked up the horrid outfit and began to dress. Bile rose up in my throat as I slipped on the pair of black lace underwear. They were highly uncomfortable and tight. Next I tried to put on the netted looking stockings. Easier said than done. My toes kept getting caught between the netting. I scowled in irritation. How the hell was I supposed to get this shit on? After a few minutes of swearing and caught toes, I finally managed to get them on. The easy part was putting on the Kimono, because the obi was tied in the front instead of the back for "easy access." I resisted the need to bang my head into the nearest wall as I put it on.

Now for the boots. I unzipped them and slid my lean legs into them. Once I had successful zipped them up all the way to my thighs, I tried to stand. I stood up on wobbly legs. How in the fuck did women walk in this!? I made an attempt to walk over to the wall length mirror, but my ankle cocked to the side and I almost fell. My hands grasped the dresser at the last second. Fuck, there was no way in hell I was going to be able to walk in these deathtraps.

I took another step away from the dresser and slowly began to walk over to the mirror. That walk in four inch thigh high boots was the longest walk in my life. With great difficulty, I made it over to the mirror. For once in my life, I wanted to scream, even though I wasn't in any physical pain.

I looked like someone's bitch. Which accurately described the position I was in. I stared at my reflection and the feelings of shame and humiliation rose up within me. Suddenly, Carous and a few guards entered. Carous', as well as the guards' eyes, went wide at the sight of me dressed in such whorish attire. I felt disgusted with myself and avoided their stares.

"Very, very nice." The birdman said with a lick of his thin lips. "Now, come here."

I didn't move, but not out of defiance. The fact of the matter was that I could not walk in these dreaded heels. Carous grew frustrated with me.

"Come here, now." He ordered sharply.

"I can't."I said bitterly.

"Yes you can. Now hurry up, our customer is getting anxious."

"I can't." I repeated again.

Carous hissed through his teeth. "Why the hell not?"

"because," I said acidly. "I can't walk in these damn shoes."

Carous looked at me as if I had told him I couldn't read. He sighed and walked over to where I was. He made to grab my hand but I quickly withdrew. He scowled.

"I'm trying to help you."

"Don't touch me." I said firmly. I'd rather fall a thousand times than have his hands on me. He rolled his eyes and walked away from me.

"Hurry up!" he yelled over his shoulder.

"Fuck you." I said sharply. I walked across the room on unsteady legs. Carous shook his head and made a noise of irritancy with his teeth.

The walk all the way to my assigned workplace was hell. My ankles hurt and the arch in my feet ached. He opened the door and flipped on the light switch. I cringed at the sight of the room and stood near the doorway. Suddenly Carous snapped his fingers and I was hoisted up by my arms by the guards. I struggled in their hold, but was powerless against them all. I felt my body being placed on top of the bed. My arms were yanked up and held firm until shackles were placed around both my wrists. They were connected together.

Carous adjusted the length of my chains so that I was lying on the bed with my tied wrists up in the air. I struggled against my bondages, but found out quickly that I couldn't get free. I growled in annoyance. Carous peered over my form and looked down at me with a severe expression.

"Now look here whore, do not ruin this or your punishment will be grave. Do you understand me?" he said strictly.

"I am not a whore." I hissed out resentfully. The hooked nosed man smirked.

"Considering the position you're in, I'd say you were a whore. And quite a striking one too." He grinned at me before turning around to leave, signaling for the guards to follow.

"Your customer will be here shortly. Now behave yourself." He left soon after, leaving me to wait in silence.

Shit. I pulled against my restraints. They were too strong and too tight around my wrists. Damn, I would have to think of another way to get out of this situation. I glanced around my surroundings, doing a quick survey of the area. Various paraphernalia lined the walls but I didn't know how I would use that to my advantage.

The door opened and I was instantly on alert. A man of about six feet, with blond hair and brown eyes entered the room. To my surprise, he was quite attractive, something I wasn't expecting. He placed down his bags and sighed. The stranger pulled off his coat and hung it up on a nearby coat rack. He removed his shoes and loosened his tie. The blond turned to me and a wide smile graced his face. I kept my expression void of emotion.

"My name is Donovan Gates. I'm a well renowned Chocobo breeder and seller."

I honestly could care less about who he was or what he did. The only thoughts entertaining my mind were of escape and trying to get out of this situation.

Donovan moved closer to the bed and peered down at me.

"So very lovely." he commented.

I averted my eyes from his, not liking the obvious look of desire in his amber eyes. He began to examine the various objects of pleasure that lined the walls. A gleam of interest flickered in his eyes as he set his sights on a sharp, medium sized blade. With a pleased grin, he grabbed the blade from the wall. He examined the blade intensely and touched the sharp pointed end. It broke the skin easily and a small dollop of blood pooled at the tip of his finger. He smiled at this and lapped at the blood eagerly.

With his blade in hand, he returned his attention back to me. This time, I was keeping a close eye on him and the knife.

"I am quite into blood play." he said with a slight grin.

Admittedly, I was quite nervous of the man holding the knife with apparent intent to us it on me. The sharp blade glistened in the light, its refracting beam lit up the right side of Donovan's face. As he and the sharp object moved closer, I thought of how I was going to avoid being cut by the damned thing.

The blond had reached the foot of the bed and was staring at me with sadistic glee. He brought the knife up to his lips and kissed the dull side of the blade lightly. Then he stuck out his tongue and glided it along the sharp side. A thin trail of blood formed along the cut, the crimson liquid seeped over his lips. I was starting to question the sanity of this man.

He crawled into the bed until he was kneeling by my feet. His eyes wandered over my prostrate form. I was uncomfortable underneath his stare but was forced to endure it.

"You are so beautiful. So delicate. So…exotic." he said, putting great emphasis on the last word.

He rested his arm on one of my knees and I tensed up at the touch. Amber eyes surveyed my scandalous attire and exposed skin.

"Your skin looks so soft and smooth." He flipped the knife in the air and caught it on the blade side. Blood seeped from his large cut on his hand, and it stained the knife red. He didn't seem bothered with the fact that he had cut his own hand, which caused me to believe he had meant to catch it on the blade side.

"I can't wait to slice your flesh and taste your blood." he said eerily, his eyes widening at the thought.

"To see such cuts on your delicate pale flesh will bring to me new heights of pleasure. I can wait to see you bleed, but first…"

He removed himself from the bed and began to undress. The blond striped down until he was completely naked. I wanted to look away, but I had to keep a close eye on that knife. Once he had undressed, he crawled back into the bed and rested on his knees. He was positioned near my feet. With a look of lunacy etched into his handsome features, he brought the knife up to his face. A moan spilled from his lips as he sliced his skin from underneath his eye to the center of his cheek. Blood oozed from his cut so that it resembled bloody tears.

Oh shit. This guy was fucking insane.

Donovan smiled creepily as he placed the knife against his chest. I watched in revulsion as he sliced his flesh all the way down to his navel. He did it again and again, moaning profusely as he sliced his skin until bloody red streaks lined his torso. I tried to remain calm and appear impassive to his treatment of himself, but I was starting to panic. My restraints were too tight around my wrists. Even the technique of breaking the bones in one's hand to escape restraints wouldn't work.

The blond dabbed his fingers into his bloody crossed cuts and stained his fingers red. He then brought his fingers up to his lips and painted them red with his blood. An amused smirk graced his red lips.

"Don't worry, my dear. I'll only cut you until it's too painful for you to bear. And after that, I'll fuck you."

Panic and alarm raced through my mind as he began to approach me with the blade pointed at me. I only had about a few seconds to come up with something to save my skin, literally. I pulled against my bonds with increased vigor, even though I knew it was no use. I drew my legs back away from him as he moved in.

Wait a minute. I moved my legs again. I can't believe I hadn't noticed before. They hadn't tied up my legs. Now I had a plan. Donovan was almost positioned between my legs when I decided to act.

"So, you like to bleed?" I asked cynically.

Donovan's smile widened as he nodded his head. "Yes, I do." He hissed out.

I returned his smile with a smirk of my own. "Well, I guess you won't mind if I make you bleed a little then."

The blond had a split second to look confused until I drew back my leg and kicked him in the thigh. The long narrow heel of my boot efficiently pierced his flesh, all four inches embedded deep into his thigh. Donovan bellowed in pain as blood spurted out from around the heel. I withdrew my heel from his leg roughly, yanking it out harshly. He screamed even louder and grabbed his thigh that was gushing tremendous amounts of blood.

I smiled in sick amusement.

"What's wrong Mr. Gates? I thought you said you liked to bleed." My tone was every bit sarcastic, though I doubt he heard me over his own wails.

He rolled off the bed and started to drag himself over to the door. I watched as he tried to reach up to the code panel. He yelled out in pain as he was forced to temporarily use his wounded leg in order to stand up. The blond furiously typed in his code and fell to the ground, since he could no longer support himself. The front desk assistant's voice immediately sounded.

"_Hello Mr. Gates. Are you…"_

"Help! I need fucking help! I'm bleeding badly! Help!"

"_Yes Sir, I'm sending help right now!"_

He applied pressure onto the gash and hissed in agony until I heard the sounds of rapid footsteps from within the halls. The emergency team here and the guards busted into the room and immediately rushed to Donovan. They put him on a stretcher and a medic began to wrap his leg up in a makeshift tourniquet. Once he was stable, they rushed out of the room, until no one was here but me. I would have smiled in success if it weren't for what happened next.

Carous crept into the room with a few guards, all of them holding menacing looking chains.

"I am not pleased, Tseng. I am not pleased in the least."

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**A/N: Reviews equal much love.**

**Also, I would appreciate it if my reviewers would tell me how they feel about Jiao, but if you don't want to that's fine too.**

**Thank for reading :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Warning! Graphic chapter.

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**Wonderland Fallout 14**

**Tseng's POV**

With a flick of his wrist, Carous signaled for his men to take me. Cautiously, they grabbed my legs and arms. I was unchained from the bed, only to be tied up again by the chains the guards had. My wrists were leashed, with one rather powerful looking guard holding the end of it. They were wary of legs though, seeing as how I had just previously made it into a makeshift weapon; Donovan's blood was still fresh on the floor and bed sheets.

One made an attempt to bond my ankles, but I drew them back into a defensive position. He backed away quickly, not wanting to become the next skewered victim. I heard Carous make a noise of disappointment with his teeth. The beak nosed man walked slowly over to the bed, a slight scowl on his thin lips.

"I grow tired of your defiance." he said sharply. Carous looked at the bloody bed sheets and floor. He shook his head in frustration. I kept a keen eye on his movements, watching him carefully as he began to circle the bed. He abruptly stopped at the foot of the bed and looked up at me. I again started to pull back my legs as Carous went for the zipper of my boots. He shot me a fierce look when I moved.

"You will be still." came his demand.

I glared at him and thought about piercing my heel through his fleshy cheek. The thought quickly died, though the image still remained. He reached up to my thighs and began to pull down the zipper. He kept a careful eye on me as he removed the boots. Cool air brought chills to my legs as they were exposed, no longer kept warm by the leather. The netted stockings I wore did little to keep me warm.

The birdlike man placed the bloody boots to the side, shaking his head as he did. He retrieved a chain from one of the men and made to tie my feet. He looked up at me for any sign that I would resist bondage and kick him. I wouldn't. I couldn't risk getting into anymore trouble, for I feared it would affect Jiao.

He wrapped it tightly around my ankles, bonding them both together. I grunted as the cool metal forced my ankle bones to mesh together. Once my legs were securely bound, he circled back around the bed to face me. Carous reached a hand down to entwine into my hair. He grinned as he ran his cold, clammy fingers through it.

"You are in big trouble, dearest. That little stunt you pulled with Mr. Donovan did not bode well with Donte. He wanted me to kill Jiao for your defiance, and have you acquire his years of service and debts."

Although I didn't show it in my facial expression, I was greatly worried for Jiao. I didn't want him to die because of my actions.

"However, I thought of another punishment for you." His grin widened and his eyes flickered with devious intent.

"I think Jiao's death would have had some affect on you, there's no doubt about that, but I wanted to do something that would tame that wild, feral spirit of yours."

He suddenly snapped his fingers and the leash around my wrists were roughly pulled. My body flew off the bed and I hit the ground hard, landing in a pool of Donovan's blood. I tried to roll out of the bloody mess but my leash was yanked, keeping me still. I glared at the large man holding the end of the leash. He had to be at least twice as big as Rude. He winked playfully at me and I scowled in disgust. He yanked my chains again in humor, causing me to slide across the bloody floor.

"We ready, Boss?" the big man said to Carous. The beak nosed man nodded his head and began to exit, motioning for the others to follow.

My leash was pulled as the large man began to move. I was dragged across the floor and into the hallway. Since my legs were bound, I couldn't stand and was subjugate to being hauled across the cool tiles. I struggled against my bonds for the sake of providing resistance. This was humiliating; being dragged as if I were a piece of meat.

Down several halls I was lugged, until Carous stopped in front of a door. It was a plain white door with a red letter "X". He unlocked the door and I was pulled in against my will. I was practically tossed in the corner; my head hit the wall hard.

The room was moderately sized and all white. There was absolutely no furniture in the room. A single hanging chandelier hung from the ceiling, but that was all. The room was bare, or at least that's what I thought. Carous flipped a switch and a small section of the ceiling opened up. Not surprisingly, more restraints retracted down. I was hauled up again and my arms tied up to these new manacles. I was in a half kneeling, half sitting position with my arms stung up. It made for a very uncomfortable position.

"Everyone leave." Carous said sharply, his eyes intently focused on mine.

The guards obeyed and exited the room, leaving me alone with Carous. He approached and kneeled down to my level. His hand caressed my cheek and stared directly into my eyes.

"Listen, this is your last chance to cooperate with us." he said evenly. "If not, then your punishment is to come. What say you?"

I snickered. "What say I? I say I will not ever submit to you or anyone else in this establishment."

"Hmm…are you sure about that."

"Quite sure indeed." I said assuredly. As a Turk, I'd rather be tortured than surrender without a fight.

Carous stood up and shook his head in disappointment. "Very well then; however, if you don't go through with it, then Jiao _will_ die. Remember that."

He turned on the heels of his shoes and promptly exited the room. I was confused as to what was happening. There was no one here but me at the moment. Seizing the opportunity, I closed my eyes and lost myself in thought. I wanted to be home, or even at work typing endless reports. I actually missed my paperwork. I missed Rufus and my colleagues at Shin-Ra. However, the possibility of going home was highly improbable at this time. As much as I wanted to deny that fact, I could not. But then again, I've always been a realist.

I wonder if they're even looking for me. As depressing as a thought that was, it was the reality of the cruelty within Shinra, President Shinra to be precise. Mostly likely, the concern was over the bombing, not the one missing Turk. I suppose I was rather unimportant in the grand scheme of things. The fact that someone besides Shin-Ra had that kind of artillery power was highly unsettling. And even more unsettling was the timing. The fucking bomb was launched exactly when Shin-Ra's most important Turks were on it. Was it just mere coincidence? Most likely not, it was too well timed.

I smiled to myself. Here I was, thinking about work when I was in such a shitty situation. I was in the absolute worst possible scenario. I had no idea where I was, with no access to the outside world. Also, these people were trying to make a Turk into a whore, which is almost impossible. I'd rather die, although I always saw myself dying a heroic death in the line of duty, not because I refused to be fucked.

My eyes immediately focused on the door as it flew open. My brows furrowed in confusion as I was met with a most odd sight. Two men, dressed in black entered the room with Carous behind them. But the unusual part was that the two men had on white feline mask that covered their eyes and nose. Their dark suits were identical, though one man had shoulder length dark hair and the other had long blond hair, almost down to his thighs. They both had white boxes in their hands.

Carous shut the door behind them and locked it. He chose a spot in the corner of the room and looked upon me with interest. I watched the two men carefully, as they placed their boxes down and opened them. The blond pulled out some rather strange objects, some I'd never seen in my life…and some I have. This would not end well.

The dark haired man appeared to only have one item in his box. He pulled it out and I couldn't even hide the horror from my face. The dark haired man smiled at my shocked expression.

"Damn it." he said. His voice was light and soft. "I wish I would have gotten that face on camera."

I began to panic. They were going to film this? For what purpose? Was it to humiliate me even further or to redistribute to the public? Either way I was screwed. I scowled in distress.

I heard him turn the camera on and he directed it at me. I lowered my head and let my long hair cover my face.

"Oh no, we'll be having none of that." The smooth voiced brunette said. He leaned down and grabbed my chin, roughly lifting my head up. I came face to face with the camera lens. I tried to keep my expression impassive, but I was failing miserably.

"Oh god Fai—, er… I mean_ Sylvester_…you should see how he looks on camera. He's so fucking sexy."

"Yes, I bet he looks quite nice. Make sure you get as many angles as you can, Setsumaru." The blond said.

"Well shit. Every angle of him is great."

I wanted to get out of this, but I couldn't. I would not go back on my word. Carous snickered in the background. I refused to look at him.

"Don't you wish you would have just submitted? It would have saved you the humiliation." The bird nosed man said.

I didn't respond back. The dark haired man, whose name was Setsumaru, reached a hand out to pat my head. I scowled as ran his fingers through my hair with on hand and filmed with the other.

"Hey Sly, hurry the fuck up already! I'm wasting valuable film here!" Setsumaru whined.

The blond sighed underneath his mask, but hurried up anyway. "Alright, let's get started."

I assumed the blonds' name to be Sylvester, Sly for short; though it almost sounded like his friend was about to call him by another name. Sly came round behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He smelled really sweet, like he'd bathed in fucking jolly ranchers®. He stared at the camera, and squeezed me tighter.

"Hello everyone. I'm Sly and the one filming is my best friend Setsumaru." The blond said. The dark haired man turned the camera to him briefly to wave into it. For some strange reason, Sly's voice sounded awfully familiar, though I couldn't place where I had heard it. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me.

"And this here," he grabbed my head and directed it toward the camera, "This here is our star attraction. Unfortunately, he's been a very bad boy. But that's okay, we _love_ bad boys."

As if to conclude his introduction, Sly licked my cheek playfully. I was disgusted and tried to draw away from him, but he held me firm. He turned my head toward his lips and kissed me. My initially reaction was to bite him and I followed through. I sunk my teeth into his bottom lips. He released my lips and covered his mouth.

"Shit!" the blond exclaimed. "He _is _a bad boy."

Setsumaru laughed. "Wow, this is going to be fun."

Sly wasn't as amused. He grabbed an object and kneeled down in front of me. He shook his head "no" at me. He had a small black box in his hand. Sly signaled for Setsumaru to assist him. He set the camera down and stood over me, apparently needing no direction. He grabbed my mouth and began to pry it open. As more of my mouth was opened, Sly forced the object into my mouth. It was small enough to fit inside, but not big enough for it to be swallowed.

Once it was in, he wrapped a black cloth around my lips and tied it behind my head, so I couldn't spit the object out. Setsumaru resumed his position with the camera and moved closer to my face. I down casted my eyes.

"Punishment for biting." Sly said. He pulled a small remote looking handheld from his pocket and turned to the camera.

"This little gadget here it the perfect thing for disciplining those naughty little boys." He lifted the remote up and smiled into the camera. "You use it as thus."

He pressed the button. I would have screamed if it weren't for the device lodged into my mouth, then again, I wouldn't be in pain if it weren't for the little box as well. It seemed as if a thousand needles had exploded in my mouth. The blistering pain dispersed throughout my body, traveling down my spine like hot molten lava. My skin ached. It felt as if I'd been set on fire from the inside out.

Sly lifted my chin up. "No bite." he said to me, as if he were training a dog.

Then he pressed the button again. My eyes went wide in pain as my body exploded in burning agony. Then it stopped as soon as it had come. God did that hurt!

"You understand yes?" he inquired.

At the risk of being shocked, I nodded. He smiled and patted my head. "Good, good boy."

He pressed his fingers to my lips and slowly began to trail them down to my neck. A soft kiss was placed before he licked skin there. He nipped at the base of my neck, his teeth nibbling at my flesh. More pressure was added and I knew it would leave a mark. Although I was a Turk, I bruised easily; a trait I could never seem to get rid of. A swift parting lick was given before he pulled away.

"Damn, you taste divine." he said with a smirk.

He moved behind me and started trailing his fingers down my back. He kissed my neck from behind and suckled the flesh there as well. His fingers wrapped around my waist again, but this time his objection was my obi. I was nervous, and my breathing was starting to increase. Sly's fingers pulled at both ends of the obi and it was loosened. The obi fell to the floor and my kimono opened up.

"Hella yea." Setsumaru commented. He smiled from behind the camera.

Sly pulled the folds of my kimono, exposing my chest and lacy underwear underneath netted stockings. A faint embarrassed blush rose on my cheeks. Cool hands were upon my chest. I winced when his cold finger brushed over my nipple. He moaned against my neck as he took one between his thumb and forefinger. His other hand played with a strand of my hair, twirling it around his fingers. He pinched my nipple particularly hard and I grunted at the pain. Also, my jaw was starting to ache from having the object lodged in there.

"We are going to have so much fun, my little pet." Sly whispered into my ear. I swear I've heard his voice before.

He withdrew from my body, only to move to my ankles. He began to undo the chains there and tossed the restraints to the side. Sly positioned himself in front of me and smiled. Setsumaru was circling us, trying to get a better shot.

"Hey, can you lower his chains? I want him on his back." Sly asked of Carous, who I had temporary forgot was still in the room. Why was he here again?

The bird nosed man did as was requested and hit a button on the side of the wall. My chains dropped bit by bit until my arms were comfortably by my side. Sly grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. He pushed me onto the cool white floor tiles facedown. He sat down on my back, which brought back more unpleasant memories of what the Serpentine gang had done to me. He sat facing my legs and nether regions.

I gasped as he groped my bottom with both hands. He kneaded the soft globes adamantly, causing a heated blush to rise to my cheeks, for I knew that camera was right up on my ass.

"Oh god! Your ass feels so good."Sly said, giving my bottom a pop. I scowled in irritation.

"Now to get these off."

He began to slide down my netted stockings, his cold fingers brushing against my legs as he did.

"You know for a guy, you have some feminine looking legs. Even your hips are a bit shapely." Setsumaru said while getting a close up on my exposed legs.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I absolutely hated to be referred to as feminine anything. From past childhood till now, it always irritated me.

Sly rubbed my thighs, marveling at how smooth my skin was. He then popped off my back, and positioned himself between my legs. Now I really was starting to panic. I looked back over my shoulder to see Sly going through some of the things he had laid out. He grabbed a lighter and my heart raced. Was he going to burn me?

I watched in confusion and apprehension as he reached for a red candle. He lit the wick with the lighter and placed it to the side. He continued this process of lighting red candles, all while grinning into the camera. I did not understand what was going on. Why the hell was he lighting candles? It was already bright as fuck in this white room. Once he had lit them all, he moved to my face and removed the black cloth that had been tied around my mouth to keep the painful object inside. He pulled out the black object and patted my head once more.

"Now the only reason I'm removing this is so I can hear those sweet moans spill from your lips. Understand?"

I honestly hadn't heard a damn thing he said. I was just so glad to move my jaw again. I rotated it around and winced at the slight soreness. It was then I realized he was saying something.

"What?" I questioned.

"I said, do you understand?" he repeated.

I nodded my head. If it could be prevented, I did not want that thing back in my mouth. He petted my hair again before resuming his position between my legs. Suddenly, my hips were hoisted up and I was made to keep my ass in the air with my knees. I panicked as I thought he meant to mount me, but instead, he ran his hands over my back.

"So smooth and pale." He said as he massaged my back. Setsumaru had come around to my face and zoomed in on my more than irritated expression.

"Are you ready for this?" Sly whispered seductively.

Ready for what? Just as I was about to voice my question, something hot and slick slid down my back. It was hot, but not too hot as to burn my skin. It tingled as it flowed down my arched back and over my shoulder. I saw a red drop of something plop onto the ground next to me. I thought it was blood at first, but upon closer examination, I found it to be candle wax.

Another stream of hot liquid oozed down my backside. Surprisingly, this felt good to me and I bit my lip to stifle a moan. I closed my eyes and tried to make it seem unpleasant, but found that I couldn't. This time, two streams of melted hot wax burned down my back until it crossed my neck. I bit my lip so hard it bled. This could not be happening. Why was I getting so turned on by hot candle wax? Was I really that sadistic?

I had no time to ponder that thought as more candle wax was poured. Fuck, this felt incredibly good and my facial features could hide nothing.

"Oh Sly, I think he likes it. He's so turned on right now." Setsumaru moved closer to my back, most likely to get a good view of the red hot wax sliding down.

"It looks like his back is bloody. How sexy." Sly added. "How do you like this? Let me hear those moans of gratitude."

I was biting my lip so hard I thought I would bite through it. Oh god did I want to moan, but I did not want to give Carous the satisfaction of hearing me. More and more wax was applied. It ran down like a red river down my back and some even reached my neck. I was breathing heavy now; my eyes were closed in concentration as I was desperately trying to stifle my growing erection.

Sly slid his hands down over my legs before pouring hot wax down them. This time I did moan, though it was low and barely noticeable. My thighs were so sensitive for god knows why, but it only intensified the feeling of pleasure. Oh shit, I was getting hard. This could not be happening to me. I wasn't supposed to be feeling this way. Wasn't this supposed to be punishment?

I lost my train of thought when Sly began to glide his fingers over my constrained semi-hard cock. Oh god. That felt fucking incredible. Then he poured more candle wax down my legs. I moaned again and mentally punched myself for it.

"That's it baby, enjoy it. Let me hear some more delicious sounds from you." Sly began to palm my erection through the thin lacy underwear. I wanted to not be enjoying this, but I was, and could not hold back the soft moans that spilled from my lips.

In response to my moans, Sly blew a gust of cool air onto my thighs. I hissed at the action. My legs were highly sensitive due to the hot wax. He doused me in wax until my entire back was laced with streaks of red. I was starting to sweat and my rational was dissipating due to the intense pleasure.

A startled gasp escaped my lips as Sly began to pull down my underwear. My erection was exposed to the cool air and I hissed at the released freedom. He grasped my bare cheeks and gave them a hard slap. It stung viciously, but then I driven into pleasurable bliss when he doused the hot liquid over my stinging cheeks. I moaned unrestrained this time. The sensation was just too good to hold back.

I felt panic return with a vengeance when Sly gripped both cheeks and pulled them apart. My exposed entranced quivered as the cool air hit it. I blushed madly and glanced over my shoulder to see what he was doing. I swore under my breath once I saw what my back looked like. The red wax did look like blood. Sly winked at me as he ran a finger across my hole. I turned away quickly so he wouldn't see the pleasurable expression on my face.

I heard him pick up another item and then the secreting of liquid. My eyes went wide. He placed a newly slickened finger against my hole. There was no warning as he pushed his finger inside. I grunted at the intrusion and winced at the discomfort.

"Oh god!" Sly moaned out. "He's so tight. Make sure you're getting this Setsu."

"Damn this is hot shit!" Setsu exclaimed as he began to film my nether regions.

He pulled his slick finger in and out of me several times before adding another one. I swore underneath my breath as my inner muscles retracted around the two intruders. He twisted and thrust them inside me, stretching my tiny hole for probably a much bigger object. I shuddered at the thought.

He shoved his fingers even deeper inside me and hooked them.

"Oh fuck." I moaned. He had successfully found my sweet spot and I moaned as he wiggled his fingers against it. Oh god. This felt too good. I hadn't had relations for quite some time and I was oversensitive from a lack of a sexual lifestyle.

Sly then added a third finger and my inner muscles did spasm. The pressure the third finger added burned but all thoughts of pain were lost when all three fingers pressed against my prostrate. I moaned out breathily. I was undeniably hard now and there was no going back. He continued to thrust all three fingers in and out slowly as he started to pour hot wax down my sensitive thighs.

I released a strained moan at the combined pleasure. Sly groaned as he began thrusting them in and out faster. Setsumaru had kneeled down in front of me to film my expression. Through half lidded eyes, I could see he was sporting a huge erection. He undid his pants, pulled out his sex and began to frantically jerk himself off. He was still filming, though I don't know how steady the camera was.

The fingers were abruptly removed from my ass. I heard the sound of something being secreted, but I didn't look back. I knew what was coming, and to my surprise, I actually wanted it. I felt him press his cock against my well prepared and wet hole. He pushed forward and penetrated with ease. There was little pain and discomfort. He pushed all the way in, sheathing himself completely. He leaned down to my ear and whispered softly.

"Normally I would use a dilldo, but you felt so damn good I had to fuck you myself." his voice was deep and laced with unadulterated lust.

He immediately began to pound into me, his large cock sliding in and out. I gripped my chains for support to keep from sliding across the floor. Moans spilled from my lips as he gripped my wax stained hips and intensified his thrusts. His large sex glided across my prostrate and I couldn't hold back anything. I moaned loudly and vociferously as my sweet spot was constantly being stimulated by his large cock.

"Ahhh yes…that's it baby. Scream for me." Sly said seductively.

And I almost did when he began fisting my neglected erection. He thrust into me with more ferocity as my moans became higher pitched. I wasn't thinking at this point. I couldn't care less about what was going on, or what my situation was. The only thing that mattered was the pleasurable satisfaction this man could give me. If only for a moment, I felt relieved and content as I gave myself unto this unknown man's blissful pleasure.

I was suddenly flipped onto my back and my legs spread apart as he fucked me into the ground. My back slid across the floor with every thrust. I wrapped my arms around his neck to steady myself. My chains rattled as he plunged deeper into me with every powerful thrust. He continued to stimulate my cock with his hand. I knew I was close. He abruptly quickened his pace and I arched my back off the floor to meet his rapid thrusts.

Just as I was about to explode, Sly whipped off his mask and began to pump my cock with increased vigor. It couldn't hold it off any more and I came hard into his hand. He came shortly after I did; releasing everything he had inside me. He collapsed onto my chest and was desperately trying to catch his breath. I couldn't see Setsumaru, but I could hear his rapid breathing, meaning he had probably came as well.

I hadn't even realized Sly had removed his mask until I felt his smooth cheek against my shoulder. He kissed my shoulder blade before he pulled himself up and stared down at me. He was rather handsome; with soft grayish-green eyes and long blond hair. Though I swear I've seen this man before. I stared at him more intensely, trying to figure out why he seemed so familiar.

Then he grinned and flashed his perfect pearly white teeth at me. Realization hit me and went wide eyed and open mouthed in disbelief. The blond flipped his hair and caressed my cheek softly.

"I wonder what you would look like sprawled out underneath me." he said, repeating the exact words he had said to me the first day I met him.

"Faire." I hissed out the name bitterly. I couldn't believe I had just let him fuck my brains out.

Now I really was starting to feel like a whore.

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**A/N:Thanks guys for the awesome reviews so far. They make me smile when i look over them. Almost to 50!**


	15. Chapter 15

Wonderland Fallout 

**Reno's POV**

I walked in silent fury as I headed for Rufus' Apartment. As the Vice President, he had the power to grant me the materials I required for Faire's bargain. I knew he wouldn't like this but it was necessary. Tseng had to be found and possibly rescued from wherever he was. Which was another complication in itself. Faire had said Tseng was located in some sort of whorehouse. I had my doubts about whether that was true or not. I don't think a whorehouse would have the capabilities of holding him. Then again, he did say that it was some sort of exclusive place. But I still was skeptical.

It was around ten O'clock when I finally reached Rufus' place. I knocked casually on his door and waited for a response. After a minute of not getting an answer, I knocked again even louder. Still nothing. Growing increasingly frustrated, I began to kick the door. When I still received no response, I immediately knew that Rufus must have fallen asleep. When Rufus slept, he slept hard. Loud noises, bombs, gunshots, all would go unheard by the sleeping VP; even if they were taking place right next to him.

I picked his lock and showed myself in. I quickly punched in his alarm code, which was set to go off after a few seconds of entry. As I entered, my ears picked up on a soft melodic tune. Scratching my head in confusion, I quietly followed the music. The closer I got to the source, the more the song and melody became clearer. It was when I reached the long corridor that I realized the song was a favorite of Tseng's. It was a classic jazz song that he used to hum all the time. Sometimes I'd waltz into his office unannounced to catch him singing the lyrics. He sounded good from the brief second I would be able to hear him sing before he started yelling at me.

The music was coming from the room at the end of the hall, aka, Rufus' bedroom. My brows furrowed in confusion as I stood in front of his door. Yup, it definitely was coming from here. Cautiously and quietly, I opened the door. The lights were on, but very dim. My assumptions had been right, Rufus was sleeping soundly, snuggled deep into the warm blankets. I sauntered over to his bed and peered at his sleeping form. A smile graced my face at the sight.

How young he looked, I thought amusingly. Suddenly the track ended, only to repeat once again. For some odd reason, the source of the music seemed to be coming from underneath the covers. It was playing rather loud, but then again, loud noises didn't faze Rufus in the least. I pulled back the sheets. I couldn't suppress a grin if I wanted to, for wrapped tightly in Rufus' arms was a small, sound-enhancing radio. It was playing Tseng's song and it was apparently on repeat.

The sight conflicted me. I wanted to laugh, but I also felt sorry for him. It was funny seeing the normal stoic blond holding onto the radio like a lovestruck fanboy, but then again it only emphasized how much he missed Tseng. I sat on the bed and brushed his loose bangs to the side. Damn if he didn't look cute while sleeping. I kicked off my shoes and tossed my jacket to the floor. I slipped into bed with him, marveling at how warm and cozy it felt.

I moved closer to Rufus and grabbed the radio from him, trying to turn it off. It was a harder task than I thought it would be, considering he was holding onto it for dear life. Once I freed it from his grasp. I turned it off and placed it onto his nightstand. Gradually, I continued to remove my clothing until I was in nothing but my boxers and undershirt. I maneuvered closer to him, seeking out his warmth. Once I was nestled up to him, I grabbed his arm and placed it around me.

Ah! I was so warm and comfy. I had a goofy contented smile spread across my face. But my smile soon faded as my thoughts began to drift to a certain dark haired beauty. He should be here, with us. But at least he was still alive, so I was grateful for that. I would have to inform Rufus of our current status and ask him for the supplies I needed for Faire's bribe. I inwardly scowled as I thought about that blond son of a bitch.

With a wide yawn, I rotated my body until I was facing Rufus. I laid my head on his chest and draped his arm around my shoulder. My eyes closed and I relaxed into the comforts of his bed and his warm body. I thought of Tseng as I drifted to sleep, with hopeful thinking that my thoughts would transfer to pleasant dreams about him.

…

I shivered as something cool and hard pressed against the side of my head. Still mostly sleeping, I just turned my head away, only to have the object pressed against the back of my head. I grunted in annoyance and turned to see what was bothering me. The circular end of a silver shotgun came into view as I slowly opened my eyes. Once my eyes focused and I realized what I was looking at, I quickly drew back.

"Oh shit!" I swore as I made an attempt to jump from the bed, but my shirttail was grabbed, halting my actions.

With a nervous gulp, I looked back over my shoulder to see a bed headed Rufus pointing his signature sawed off shotgun at me. I tried to form a smile but fear was preventing me from acting. I wasn't scared of Rufus, but what made him more intimidating, were his eyes. His fierce blue eyes seemingly pierced my spirit, so intense was his glare.

"Um…morning sunshine?" I said, my voice quivering. Rufus didn't respond, he just pressed the barrel of his gun harder against my face. His perfectly arched blond brow rose up, demanding an explanation.

"Okay, Okay!" I said, putting my hands up in surrender.

"Why…are you in my bed?" he said annoyed.

"Oh, have you forgotten? We had some hardcore dirty sex last night."I said in fearful amusement. Rufus apparently didn't find it funny. His finger tapped the trigger of his gun threateningly.

"Alright, alright! Shit! I came here last night to update you on Tseng's status but…"

"Tseng's status!" Rufus said, cutting me off due to surprise. "What happened? Where is he? Is he alive? Is he okay? Is…"

"Hey! Hold on a damn minute." I yelled. "Firstly, Can you put your gun away?"

The blond tossed it carelessly to the ground, his attention now intently focused on me and the information I obtained.

"Speak up! Is he okay? Where is Tseng?"

"Rufus, calm the fuck down!" I snapped.

He crossed his arms and furrowed his brows in anger. His lips were in an almost pout, almost. I smiled and rubbed is hair playfully, messing it up even more. He pushed my hand away.

"Cut it out, Reno. I am not a child!" he said irritated.

"Yeah, sure." I teased. Rufus scowled but dropped the subject.

"Just…tell me what happened." He said through a sigh.

"Alrighty then." I laid back down and relaxed into the sheets, though they weren't as warm as before. Rufus' curious blue eyes peered down at me intensely.

"Well let's see. Yesterday, Rude and I went to talk to that prick, Faire. He talked a whole bunch of bullshit, but we do know where Tseng is…"

Rufus' eyes lit up at that, the corner of his mouth were on the verge of curling up into a smile. But I continued on before he could rejoice.

"However, we don't know the exact location, but Faire…"

"What?" Rufus said interrupting. "What do you mean you know where he is, but you don't know the exact location?"

"Well…um," I fidgeted with my fingers in hesitation. Dare I tell him where Faire told us where he was? I had a feeling Rufus' reaction wouldn't be pleasant. His eyes bore down on me, fierce and wanting answers. I looked up at him and sighed.

"He was um…sold to ah…"

"To a what? What?"

"To a …*cough* whorehouse." I expected Rufus to start fuming like I had done, but he remained calm, as if I hadn't told him his beloved was sold to a whorehouse.

"Rufus?" I questioned, concerned by his lack of any reaction.

The blond sighed and a smiled graced his face. Now I was starting to become a little freaked out. His smiled lingered on and eventually a low, deep laughed erupted from him. I looked up at him startled and a little appalled. What the hell was he thinking?

"Hey Rufus, you okay?"

"Yes, very much so." He said eerily happy.

"So ah…you do realize I said he was sold to a _whorehouse _right?" I said, reiterating myself.

"Yes, I do."

Okay now I was getting worried. "What the hell, Rufus?"

"Don't you see Reno? Tseng can easily get away from a whorehouse. He'll be home soon, right." His eyes held certain optimism that children who believed in make believe characters would have.

"Well, you would think so but you have to remember, Tseng was injured and vulnerable when he was sold…I think. So he might not have been able to escape right away. Plus, Faire told us this was no ordinary whorehouse like the Honey Bee Inn. People are sold to this place like slaves. It's very exclusive and secretive and apparently Faire knows how to contact the buyer, which leads me to this…"

Rufus, after having his hopes crushed of finding Tseng, looked at me with eyes full of sadness, though he was desperately trying to hide it.

"I need some supplies in order to fulfill Faire's request. If we do, then he promises to tell us where we can find the buyer."

"Why doesn't he just take you there himself?"

"Because he doesn't know where the place is located."

Rufus sighed heavily and nodded his head. "Yeah sure, take what you need."

I have to admit, I was shocked at how fast he agreed. No argument or resistance.

"Really?" I asked again to be sure.

"Yes. Just do whatever it takes to find him." he said. I was going to ask if he was okay, but he got out of bed quickly and rushed toward the bathroom. I cocked my head to the side as I heard the shower immediately start.

What just happened?

I rose up from the bed and walked over to the bathroom door. I pressed my ear against it, but I could only hear the sound of running water. With a sigh, I walked away and commenced to put on my clothes. I smelled them and then myself. I smelled relatively clean so I didn't pressure the need to shower. I put back on my clothes and sat on the bed. I thought about waiting for Rufus to come out, but who knows how long he'd be in there. Besides, I was hungry.

I headed for the kitchen and grabbed a few items from his fridge. Gathering my selected food choice, I sat at the tabled and began to chow down. I dunno really what I was eating but it tasted great. Maybe I should eat some more health oriented foods, like this. Or maybe I could become a vegetarian like Tseng. The thought quickly passed. I loved meat too much.

After I finished, I cleaned up my mess and waited for Rufus. We had to be at work in a bit and I had a lot of shit to do today. Such as prepare the supplies for Faire and get them to him. Also, I had to watch that dumb video he had mentioned. Why the hell would he want me to watch some dumb video? Though my interest was piqued. I wonder what was on it. Something brutal or violent perhaps? Maybe it was something incredibly gross and disgusting? I don't know. I just wanted to get this over with so I could find Tseng.

Rufus finally came out in his trademark white suit. He seemed irritated so I wouldn't bother him too much. He grabbed a cup of coffee from his automatic maker and headed toward the door.

"Come on then." He said to me.

I followed suit and shut the door behind me. As I walked next to him, I glanced over and saw him chewing his bottom lip, a habit he only did out of frustration.

"Well I gotta go, so I'll see you later, buddy." I said as we had to part ways. He nodded his head and turned on his heels to head to his office. Unfortunately for him, I grabbed his arm and pulled him into my embrace. I wrapped my arms around him and held him close. He blushed and tried to break free of my hold, but I was stronger and didn't relent.

"What the hell, Reno!" he said through gritted teeth.

"If you ever need to vent or just talk, lemme know yo. I'm your friend and I'm here for you. M'kay?" I said honestly.

Rufus calmed down within my arms and sighed. "I know." He said annoyed. I smiled at him and winked playfully. He scowled and broke free of my hold, though I had intentionally released him. He fixed his rumpled suit from our forced hug and walked away stridently.

I smirked and shook my head in amusement. Rufus sure was an interesting fellow. He tried so hard to hide his emotions, but it would take more experience to master the act. But I was relatively sure he would get it eventually.

I hummed Tseng's song casually as I walked down the hallway to the elevators. Once in, I hit the button that would take me to the Turks floor. I swiped my keycard and was granted access to my workplace. This was the floor that only Turks were allowed on, no exceptions. Humming the catchy tune, I entered the office I shared with Rude. We didn't use this office much, considering we had another one located on the executives' floor.

Rude was typing rapidly at his computer. I moved behind him and peered over his shoulder to see what he was working on. Apparently he was placing an order to the Shinra-Shipping ground. The items that Faire had requested. I kicked his chair playfully and he sighed in annoyance, though he didn't speak.

"Yo, how you gonna go ahead and order without the Pres or VP's permission." I questioned. Rude knew that he had to get either verbal or written consent from our superiors in order to get such a large quantity of items.

When he didn't answer, I kicked his chair again. "Eh Rude?"

He cleared his throat as if to speak, but didn't. I groaned in annoyance and walked away from him. When Rude didn't want to talk, not even Sephiroth himself could get the man to speak. Leaving him to his business, I decided to check up on Cissnei. She was heading the investigation of the bombing. I entered her office that she fortunately didn't have to share. I almost gasped when I saw her appearance. She looked like she hadn't slept in days and her skin was very pale.

"Damn girl, what's been going on here?" I questioned as I sat on the edge of her desk. She gave me a weak smile and yawned.

"Oh Reno, good thing you're here. I've got some news for you. But first, how's the search for Tseng coming along?"

"It's going…" I pursed my lips as I thought of a word to describe our progress. "along."

"Any leads?"

"Yeah, Rude and I have an inside source we're bribing tonight to get info."

"Good. The sooner we find him; the sooner things will go back to being normal."

I nodded in agreement. "So what's your progress on the investigation?"

"Oh yeah!" she said, suddenly vibrant. "The investigating Turks and I found out some rather peculiar things about the bombing."

"Such as?"

"Such as that the bomb was Shin- Ra property."

"So what. Maybe it was stolen or someone purchased it from the black market."

She shook her head. "That's what I thought, until we found a scrap of the bomb. It had a part of serial number on it so we inputted the numbers and found out that that particular bomb was in Shin-Ra possession until three 'clock that day. Meaning someone had to of checked out the bomb from the storage yard. We ran a search through the database of who checked it out and we were stunned when the search came back negative. It was electronically signed out but there is no name as to who did it. We questioned the staff that day and they have no memory of a bomb being removed. And look at this…"

She turned on her computer and I glanced curiously from at it. It appeared to be footage of the bomb holding bay.

"This is the video footage of the day the bomb was removed."

I stared at it for a few minutes. The bomb was safely locked away and then, in a split second, it was gone. I shook my head to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me.

"Did…did it just disappear?"

"Yup, right at 3'o clock exactly. The bomb disappears exactly the same precise moment the bomb was supposedly signed out. We know somebody had to remove it, but as you can see this video footage is corrupted. The bomb just disappears; there are no staff members to remove the bomb."

"Hmm…that's fucked up." I commented as she replayed the footage over again.

"We've been up for days trying to figure out whom or what requested the bomb. Who removed it, where exactly did it go, etc…" She sighed tiredly. "So many questions, so many missing pieces of the solution. This investigation is draining me."

"Hey, you'll figure it out. You're a fucking genius and if anyone can solve this case, it's you."

"Or Tseng…" she added sadly.

"Don't you worry about him, Rude and I will find Tseng. I guarantee it." I said confidently. She smiled at me and was about to speak before a knock on the door interrupted.

"Come in." I said.

The door opened to reveal Rude. He stared at me and nodded his head at Cissnei in acknowledgement.

"What's up big guy?"

"Everything's been ordered. Several soldiers are prepared to help with the transaction tonight."

"Good going Rude." I said giving him a thumbs up. I hopped off Cissnei's desk and headed for the exit. Before leaving, I shot her a cheeky grin.

"I have the utmost confidence in you, babe." I added playfully. She rolled her eyes, but smiled softly.

"And I have the utmost confidence that you both will bring Tseng back to us."

"For sure. No worries lassie."

"Whatever."

"Hey, Cissnei."

"Yeah?"

"Good luck."

"Good luck to you too. I have a strange feeling you're going to need it more than I do."

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**A/N: Will work on updating faster, especially with the break coming up. I need a break from school, ugh! Cant wait until college when I get a month off and not a mere two weeks! Till next time folks! Reviews loved and appreciated :D**


	16. Chapter 16

**Wonderland Fallout **

**Reno's POV**

It was around seven o' clock pm when we decided to carry out the deal. As unhappy as I was about the arrangement, it had to be done. I watched from the side as the SOLDIER 3rd Classes loaded our supplies onto a moderately sized cargo plane. A sigh escaped from my lips as I thought about the upcoming meeting with the underground trader, Faire. The long haired blond seemed to always know what to say to get me riled up. For the sake of Tseng and our success in this exchange, I absolutely needed to keep my cool no matter what. I couldn't afford to mess this up.

Once they were finished, Rude signaled to me. I ran my hand through my red spikes in apprehension as I walked toward him. He had a few SOLDIER's standing in an orderly fashion behind him.

"Everything good to go?" I asked. He curtly nodded his head.

"Well, lets get going."

I entered the cockpit in the pilot's position, with Rude as my co-pilot. The few SOLDIERS who were going with us either sat in the cargo hold or the seats behind us. I revved up the engine and got the blades going. Making sure my headgear was in order, I nodded to Rude signaling our launch.

Soon we were up in the air. We flew over the wreckage the bomb had caused and a twinge of resentment filled me. It was here that we had become separated from him. It was here that all our troubles had originated. I shook the painful thought from my head and tried to concentrate on the task at hand.

We were supposed to meet on the outskirts of sector 7, where our deal could be conducted away from prying eyes. I landed the plane in the designated area and turned it off. I quickly exited the plane and Rude followed suit. We ordered the SOLDIER's to reside in the plane until instructed.

There was no one here when we arrived so we would have to wait. It was fucking cold outside and temperatures were dropping. I pulled out a cigarette like I usually did when I was forced to wait outside in the cold. It didn't really warm me up, it just made the wait more bearable.

Half an hour passed with no sign of Faire. I was growing increasingly pissed off. My fingers were practically frozen and my face ached from the chilly wind.

"Fucking hell!" I hissed out, puffs of cold air forming from my mouth. "Where is this guy? Shit!"

Rude shrugged his shoulder and continued to stare off into the distance, though he couldn't see much because of his shades. Why did he have those on again? Not only was it dark outside, it was winter. Just as I was about to question him about it, the hum of a large vehicle could be heard. The lights of the vehicle were approaching rapidly. I called out to the SOLDIER's in the plane to ready themselves.

The truck stopped a few yards away from us, along with a small dark vehicle that had been trailing behind the truck. I made sure to note where all my weapons were underneath my dark suit, just in case something crazy happened. The back of the truck opened and several guys exited.

"Hey Rude, why don't we just order SOLDIER to kill everyone and then we could capture Faire and torture his ass until he spills?" I suggested without thinking.

Rude just shook his head, his eyes still focused on the men in front of us.

"Pssh! Why not? I mean..."

"No." He said sharply.

"And why not?"

"Due to our hasty efforts to retrieve our leader, we have compensated our intelligence, meaning we do not not know much about him, our previous data on him was inaccurate. For all we know he could have loyalties with numerous gangs and if we take out their "source", then we could have another gang war on our hands. We don't have time for that. This is the most ideal way."

I frowned as Rude dismissed my quickly fabricated plan and threw it to the wind. But he was right. We didn't really know much about the guy as we had originally thought. It would be to dangerous to do something so rash. Feeling incredibly stupid, I just sighed and crossed my arms in frustration.

Suddenly, the side door of the truck opened. I squinted to see through the darkness. It was Faire. His long blond haired was loose and it whipped around ecstatically due to the wind. He was in yet another ridiculous outfit. Bright pink pants with a white sweater midriff underneath a thick leopard print coat. Who the hell wears that shit!

His strange costume aside, Rude and I approached him cautiously. A wide annoying smile was plastered across his face. We were but a few feet away and I could smell his sweet scent. What the hell? Why did he smell like a damn candy shop?

"My shit here?" he asked straightforwardly.

"Yeah, its all there douche bag." I snapped.

"Why so bitter, Reno? I'm only trying to help you out." he said playfully.

I gritted my teeth. "You're the one who sold him in the first place motherfucker!" I yelled.

He shrugged his shoulders. "A minor technicality."

"A what! Why you son of a--!"

"Reno." Rude said sharply.

I made a sound of annoyance with my teeth, but decided to drop the petty argument. Faire started to move closer to me and I immediately tensed up, my gaze locked onto his threateningly. I pulled out my weapon as a precaution. Within a matter of seconds he was right in front of me, invading my personal space. He loomed over me at his height of 6'2". His sweet smell was starting to make me sick.

"Could you back the fuck up candy boy?" I hissed out. Faire's smiled widened.

"Sorry. I must admit I have a sweet tooth." He said. "But I would like to get my materials loaded up onto that Truck as soon as possible."

I backed away from him to get his scent out of my nostrils. Rude signaled for the SOLDIER's to began moving the supplies. Once they started unloading from the cargo hold, they began the process of giving them to Faire's people. They then loaded the goods up onto their Truck. As that was going on, Rude and I engaged with Faire.

"So tell us what we want to know." I asked.

Faire snickered. "Why should I?"

I wanted to yell at him for being so damn annoying but I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves. With a clean head, I answered back.

"We brought you what you wanted, so you have to tell us how we can contact the buyer of Tseng. That was the deal."

"Hmm? That's funny. I thought the deal was you provide me with my goods in addition to a little video I would like for you to watch."

Oh yeah. I had forgotten about that second part. I groaned in irritation.

"Ugh! Look, why don't you just give us the tape now and I promise Rude an I will watch it and tell you what we thought of your stupid movie. We don't have time to be fooling around like this!"

"A deal's a deal. Either you come back with me to watch it, or the deal's off."

I scowled and glanced at Rude. His expression remained neutral, but his eyes were staring right in my direction. I could feel the intensity of his glare through his shades, meaning he would pummel me if I screwed this up. With a audible groan, I relented.

"Fine, we'll watch whatever. What a waste of time." I rolled my eyes and rubbed my hands together. I was starting to feel the cold again.

Faire laughed. "Don't worry, you'll love this movie. The actors in it are really sexy."

'Yeah whatever. Hey hurry up over there!" I said yelling to the SOLDIER's. I was anxious to get this whole thing over with. They quickened their pace and things were moving along smoothly. I pulled out a cigarette and lit it quickly. I placed it to my lips and smoked contently.

"Smoking is bad for you." Faire said condescendingly.

"So is too much candy, bitch." I retorted back.

Soon enough, the last box was loaded up and the truck was turned on in completion. Rude gave a few orders to the SOLDIER's before he sent them home. I watched at the two trained to fly took their positions in the cockpit and turn the helicopter on. The noise was deafening and I covered my ears until they were a good distance way. When they were gone, we turned our attentions to Faire. He grinned and signaled for us to follow him.

"Keep on your guard." Rude whispered silently to me. I nodded my head and continued to follow the blond. He lead us to the dark vehicle and the driver opened the door for us. Rude and I entered the backseat, quickly doing a survey of the vehicle before settling in. It was nice and warm in the car and I was glad to be out of the cold.

Faire entered the front seat and we were soon off. The ride was about an hour long. We rode past slum down homes and neighborhoods. Although it was nighttime, the slums were lively and in full swing. Everything happened at night in the slums. Nothing, if anything was ever conducted during the day. Seeing the old sights brought back memories of my childhood. Some good, most bad.

Snapping me out of my thoughts, rude tapped me on my shoulder and pointed out the window. The Truck that had the goods was going in another direction. I guess it only made sense that they wouldn't want to reveal their true hideaway. We soon pulled up to a sleazy slum hotel. Faire got out so Rude and I did the same. When we arrived, we noticed several of his men already waiting for us. Entering the hotel, we were trailed by his thugs. I didn't like them so close to me, but I would hold tongue for now.

The place looked a bit better on the inside than on the outside, plus it was nice and warm. He led us upstairs to a room in the back. He suddenly stopped at the door and looked at us.

"What?" I asked annoyed.

"Only one of you can go in. The other must sit in the next room." he said.

"Hell no!" I snapped. "What are you playing at?"

"Well it wouldn't be fair if I was in a room with two Turks and only one little ole me." he said feigning a pouty lip.

I looked to Rude. "So, what should we do?"

"I don't like this as much as you do, but it seems we have no choice. I will be your backup and wait in the next room."

One of Faire's men opened the door for Rude. He gave me a nod before going into the room. "If you even get the feeling this guy is up to something, don't hesitated to kill him if your life is at stake."

"Sure thing, Rude." I said before he disappeared into the room. As for Faire and I, we entered another room and he closed the door behind him. I did a survey of the area and accessed that it was indeed just me and him in the room.

I plopped down on the couch in front of the TV and sighed. "Come on, lets get this over with."

"Hold on, Red." he said. He hung up his leopard coat and took off his shoes. A contented sigh fell from his lips as he stretched and plopped down on the bed.

"You want to watch on the bed with me?" he asked teasingly.

"Fuck no. Just play the damn thing."

He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

"Can you hit play on the VCR? The tape's already in there."

I groaned but did it anyway. I hit play and resumed my seat on the couch. I was curious at to what this was about, but I was also anxious to get the information I would need to find Tseng. Hmm, I wonder if Rude is watching as well? I was about to question him when the video started. It started out discombobulated and unfocused, obviously homemade.

"You'll have to forgive me, it hasn't been edited, but it shouldn't matter." Faire said in the distance.

I ignored him and kept my eyes on the tape. Damn it, I thought. I could be looking for Tseng right now, not wasting ...my time...watching...what...the hell?

My mind went blank and my eyes widened in absolute shock.

"T-Tse..." I couldn't even form words, or even bring myself to speak his name. For a few seconds I thought, this can't be. This isn't my Tseng. This isn't my leader and love interest. I drew closer to the TV, to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me.

Nope, it was him alright. He was chained up, arms and legs. But what most shocked me was what he was wearing. I've only ever seen Tseng out of uniform a few times and even then he still wears a nice collared shirt and slacks. But this, this was totally unexpected. A short, dark kimono graced his nimble form, leaving little to the imagination. His long hair was loose and hung freely, a few tendrils covered one eye seductively.

A wave of emotions flooded into me as I tried to contemplate everything. Tseng was alive, but he was being held against his will and forced to do...this. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen. I kept trying to convince myself that this was someone else I was watching and not my boss. The two strange men in the video had on these really stupid looking masks and were dressed in dark suits. I watched the blond one introduce himself, his dark haired friend and then Tseng. The Turk looked pissed off, irritated and most certainly embarrassed.

My heart raced as the blond one made to kiss the lips of my attraction, but I was relieved when Tseng viciously bit him. A faint grin formed on my face at the action.

That's it Tseng, fight back.

My adrenaline was pumping from all the anxiety I felt I continued to watch, vaguely aware of the other man in the room. The blond, who had introduced himself as Sly, didn't seem amused by Tseng's protest at all. He fumbled through his things and had his other friend, Setsumaru, pry open Tseng's mouth. A nervous sweat ran down my temple as he shoved something into his mouth and bound his lips to keep the object in.

He then hit a button and Tseng arched in pain. His eyes widened in intense agony and a low pained rumble erupted from his throat. Blistering pain wracked his body again when Sly hit the button a second time. I stood up with my fist balled reflexively.

"Stop! Stop I can't watch this!" I yelled at Faire. My anger was rising and I knew I wouldn't be able to control myself, not when it came to Tseng. I would do something I would regret.

Faire just turned up the volume and smiled. "You have to keep watching until I say so."

I gritted my teeth in rage as the blond in the video began kissing and licking Tseng's neck. Disgusted, I scowled and cursed aloud. How dare they touch him like that! They had no right! I laced my fingers in my spikes and clenched them in my hands in frustration. Then Sly removed Tseng's obi and his kimono fell open. His smooth, pale skin was revealed and also the dark lacy underwear he wore underneath fishnet stockings. The camera zoomed in on him as Sly began to let his hands wander all over Tseng's chest.

"Fuck." I swore out of anger. "Turn this shit off! Now, right now!"

Faire laughed. "Well how about we just fast forward to my favorite part."

He fast forwarded and my anger increased as I saw what they were doing to him though it went by fast. I closed my eyes and ran the palm of my hand over my face. This was too much. I was going to lose it if this kept up. I felt guilty, as if I should have been there to save him from this. It was my fault he was there anyway. If only I had just made it across the bridge in time!

As I sunk in my sorrows, Faire snapped at me, whipping from my thoughts. He had stopped fast forwarding and wanted me to see. I couldn't open my eyes, I wouldn't!

"Look, Reno. You'll enjoy this." he said breathing heavily.

Just as he said that, I heard the most provocative sounds coming from the video. To my surprise, they didn't sound forced or even painful. What was going on? Curiosity peeked, I slowly opened my eyes. Once I saw what was going on, my jaw dropped and I had a dumbfounded look on my face.

"Wha...?" I couldn't even from a complete word. My mind seemingly shut down and went into shock.

Tseng had done a complete 360 from the beginning of the video. As a matter of fact, the moaning sounds were coming from him. He was bent over on all fours, his arms were quivering from the pleasure the other was giving him with...candle wax?

Red wax slithered down his back, eliciting a moan from him every time. I didn't want to admit it, but Tseng sounded so sexy and needy and it was turning me on, much to my dismay. His expression of sweetly parted lips and eyes half lidded in pleasure was making this harder to watch. Never had I heard such sweet noises from him. He sounded and looked so much better than any fantasy I conjured up.

"How delicious." Faire commented. "If only it had been me giving him pleasure."

"Shut up!" I yelled at him. I couldn't keep watching this. My emotions were in a grand mix of anger, fury, and desire. They all coursed through my veins, the most upsetting being desire. I hated myself from becoming turned on.

"Turn it off, please." I begged in a low, sorrowful voice.

Faire sighed, but relented. "Very well then. To bad though, you're going to miss the part when Sly fucks him to high heaven."

I clenched my fist, trying by best to resist going off on this guy. I was clenching so tightly my nails were piercing my palm. My eyes closed and I took several deep breaths. I couldn't lose it, not yet. I begin to rapidly pace back and forth, mumbling words of rationality. Faire watched me in obvious amusement.

"So, what do you think of my little surprise video?" he asked derisively.

"Fuck you!" I hissed out bitterly. He was really making it hard for me to not beat him to death.

Not yet, I kept repeating to myself. Not yet! Not yet! I needed to get the information first. I stopped pacing and glared at him on the bed. The blond was stretched out languidly across it.

"Faire," I said controlling my tone, "Tell me where I can find the buyer. You made a deal."

He laughed facetiously and sat up on his elbows, staring at me in mirth. "I guess you're right, we made a deal. In sector 6, there is a clothing store called Maha's Linen. Inside there is a back room where a man named Dasque conducts his business. Now he's only there once a month unless he has a special request from his boss, or unless I call him with a valuable purchase. He should be here within the week on Saturday, lucky enough for you." He said with a wink.

"As it was, I called in the buyer when the Serpentine gang had captured...what was his name? Tseng? Ah yes that was it. I must admit, I immediately recognized him and knew who he was. As my luck would have it, Dasque said his boss was in the business of buying Wutaiian's and I knew I would get a great price for him since the demand was high. Plus, I wanted to stir up some trouble."

"You must have a death wish to want to go messing with the Turks." I said.

"I'm not going to die and you Turks are most definitely not going to do it. I'm to clever for my own good. In fact, you could say that I started fucking with you all because I wanted a challenge. But alas, you Turks prove to be the same as the others, not a challenge at all."

"Yeah right! Like you said, you just got lucky and decided to mess with us when we were at our weakest. You ain't as clever as you think you are."

He rolled his eyes and grinned. "Actually I am and I'll prove it to you."

He stood up and walked over to where I was standing. He swung his hips seductively as he moved closer, his tongue lapped at his full lips. I kept on my guard as he came closer. I didn't like the look in his eyes.

Soon he was right up on me, invading my personal space once again. I had to tilt my head up to glare at him and show my displeasure. His lips curled up into a malicious smirk and his eyes shone with lust.

"I bet that before the night is over, I will have convinced you to have sex with me on that very bed. I guarantee it."

* * *

**A/N: I already have half of the next chapter done so expect a quick update. Like either late tonight or tomorrow. Your reviews have been wonderful and I would love to hear more from you all :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Wonderland Fallout **

**Reno's POV**

"What?" I said, stepping back a few feet. "You and me, having sex? I seriously doubt that."

"On the contrary, we will be." Faire said assuredly.

This guy was full of shit. He had just told me that he was going to have sex with me tonight. His head must have been in the clouds because there was no way in hell I was going to fuck him. I hated him with a passion. Nothing would change that and nothing would convince me to have sex with him. Nothing.

I snickered. "You're seriously retarded. There is no way I'm having sex with you. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna just go ahead and leave now. I've got all the information I need and you are of no use to us anymore."

"Oh, is that so?" he said condescendingly.

"Yes, and you better be glad I'm letting you live, especially after seeing that tape. Actually..." I said, as a thought popped into my head. I walked over to the VCR and ejected the video. I began to pull out the tape on the inside and tear it up. With great force, I tossed the tape to the ground and began stepping on it until it was thoroughly destroyed. After that was taken care of, I headed for the door.

"Where are you going? Didn't I tell you we were having sex tonight." Faire said casually.

"I'm leaving. Bye." I was about to leave and not look back until he spoke.

"There are others, other copies I mean."

I shot him a fierce glare. "What? What do mean by that?"

"Exactly as it sounds, there are more than one copy of Tseng's little homemade movie."

I released the door handle and turned to face him. "You better get rid of them if you value your life." I threatened.

"I don't think I will. As a matter of fact, I think I'll redistribute this to the public and make a pretty Gil."

At that, I pulled out my EMR and flipped the switch. It cracked to life at full power. I pointed it at him and began to move closer.

"Get rid of them or I'll kill you."

Faire just smirked. "First off, how am I supposed to do that if the copies aren't even here?"

"Where are they?"

"Um? Well a friend of mine has a copy. And I have two more in my personal collection."

"You better call and tell them to destroy it, now, or I'll destroy you."

"You know, if you do kill me I have several men out there ready to end you before you even step foot out of this room. Then you'll never see your dear Tseng again, in this lifetime anyway."

Fuck. He was a crafty bastard. My hand faltered on my weapon, but I didn't let it down.

"You will not distribute them to the public."

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't?"

"I'll kill you before you can."

"And like I said, you'll be dead before you step out of this hotel."

Damn it. What was I supposed to do? If I killed him, I'd be dead and I'd never see Tseng. But I couldn't let him distribute this out to the public. Tseng would be humiliated, especially if a Shin-ra employee or even worse, an executive ever saw it. No. I could not let that happen, no matter what.

Come on Reno, think of something! I said to myself. I quickly tried to contemplate any way out of this or at least a flaw in his plan. He had claimed to have more copies, but he wouldn't be able to mass produce them if I just went ahead and killed him. But if I did kill him, I was relatively sure that my chances of leaving this place alive was slim. And I planned on rescuing my boss by any means necessary.

Then there was this other friend he claimed to have. Would this friend of his be compelled to redistribute the video in spite if I had killed Faire? The risk was to great and I had unfortunately ruled out killing him, at least for tonight. I ran my fingers through my troubled head as I continued to ponder.

If I did have sex with him, which was slowly becoming my only option, how could I be sure that he wouldn't just sell them anyway? He obviously couldn't be trusted and was having a grand ole time toying with us. How could I be sure that he wasn't just playing another one of his games. My aquamarine eyes narrowed as I focused on his relaxed form on the bed.

"Faire, " I said getting his attention. He looked to me with a sly grin.

"Yes dear?" he responded.

"How will I be assured that you won't sell the tape even if I considered sleeping with you, which is still slim possibility mind you." I said, though I knew it was becoming more of a reality than I wanted to admit.

He raised his hand and placed it over his heart. "You have my word as a sociopath. I will not sell them." he said, an amused grin on his face.

"Not good enough."

"Fine then, I'll personally mail all of the copies to you and you can do with them as you see fit."

"How do I know you won't keep a copy?"

"Don't worry, Red. As much as I loved your friend's performance, I have literally hundreds of these type of videos. I will just have to keep it in memory. I'll send them all, even my friend's copy."

I still was skeptical and he could see it in my expression. He sighed and stood up from the bed, stretching out his long limbs before making his way over to me; wary of the weapon in my hand.

"Reno, I promise you. I have no reason to lie. It's not as fun playing games when not truthful."

Still, I continued to think, though I knew it was pointless. He had me effectively cornered by my emotions and his clever wit. He knew that I would do anything for the sake of Tseng's reputation and he was using it against me to satisfy his own desires. This man was a master manipulator, and a sociopath no less. If we had encountered him before all this, I would have a mind to recruit him into the Turks. But now, all I wanted to do was kill him.

"Who are you really? You're to shrewd and intelligent to be a simple underground trader and a middleman for these slum gangs."

The long haired blond smiled and crossed his arms. "That my friend, is none of your business. All you need to concern yourself with is the task at hand." He moved closer to me until his chest was but a few inches away from my blazing weapon, which I hadn't realized I had been holding up all this time, so lost in my thoughts I was.

"Will you give yourself to me, Reno?" he asked, surprisingly soft.

I gritted my teeth and bit my lip in apprehension, but the choice had already been made. I would do what I had to do to protect my boss , the love of my life. With my fierce gaze locked onto his, I turned off my weapon and let it fall to the ground. The blond's eyes widened at the sight and he grinned in approval. I smirked cockily, but inwardly I was dreading my fate.

"Very good." he said. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it to the side. I snickered nervously.

"Over eager are we?" I said.

"Yes indeed. Now get on the bed."

"Hey don't go bossing me around!"

I reluctantly headed to the bed and sat on the edge. I sighed and shook my head. How do I get myself into these things? Here I was, about to have sex with a man I absolutely resented with ever fiber of my being for a man I absolutely loved with ever fiber of my being. How ironic, I thought as I removed my jacket and tossed it. I kicked off my shoes and removed my socks. I can't believe I was about to do this.

"Lets get this over with." I said.

Faire grinned down at me and flipped his long blond hair. He crawled into bed and grabbed my shoulders. I involuntarily tensed up as I found myself being pulled in for a kiss. Quickly I turned my head and his lips brushed my cheek. A sound of irritation erupted from his throat as he tried again, only to get the same result. I didn't want to kiss him.

"Difficult are we? No matter." Suddenly, he tossed me out of the bed, causing me to land right on my head. I rubbed my sore forehead and growled.

"What the hell!" I yelled.

"Since you don't feel like kissing, I thought I'd put your mouth to better use."

He moved to sit on the edge of the bed and smiled down at me as he spread his legs. His fingers began to stroke his growing bulge in his tight pink pants. My sweat dropped nervously, I did not like where this was headed. Not at all. I gulped as he unzipped his pants and pulled out his hardening sex, stroking himself slowly. I was starting to wish I had just kissed him instead. The blond winked playfully at me and licked his lips. I averted my eyes from his cock as he touched himself.

"Why so shy?"he said lustily.

"Because your dick's so small." I lied. His cock was fucking huge and he wasn't even fully erect yet. If anything I was scared of that monster.

"Silly boy. Why don't you come and get acquainted with him." he said stroking himself a little faster. I rolled my eyes, but moved closer to him.

"Go on, touch me."

"Why? It looks like you're doing okay by yourself."

"Touch." he commanded. I sighed. For Tseng, I thought. Do it for Tseng.

I knelt between his long, parted legs and lifted my hand up to his hard on. My finger grazed the glistening tip lightly and he moaned softly. He removed his own hand so I could do the job for him. Reluctantly, I wrapped my hand around his member and slowly began pumping him.

"Ahh yes, just like that." he moaned out.

I was thoroughly disgusted with myself as I stroked him. On a side thought, I wondered what the hell Rude was doing. Had he watched the tape as well? I didn't think so. Faire has said the only copies were two he had elsewhere and one his friend had. I destroyed one so he couldn't have watched. I wondered how he would have reacted from seeing it? Also, would Faire have still went through with his plan if Rude was the one watching the tape? If things had been different, would Rude be here kneeling between Faire's legs, stroking his hard sex?

A vociferous moan from him broke my thought cycle. "Faster." he commanded through pants.

Adhering to his need, I moved my hand faster on him, his length growing harder by the second. I looked up at him to see his lips moist and parted, soft moans spilling from them unrestrained. Cum dripped from his tip, plopping onto the cheap wooden floor and pooling. The color of it darkened as blood was directed to the most active organ at the moment. I continued to move my hand on him but made no inclination of advancing further than this unless he said something. Unfortunately, he did.

"Suck me." came his lusty demand to my horror.

Wanting to get this over with as soon as possible, I positioned my face in front of his crotch. Oh god, how I was dreading this. Faire looked down at me with an anticipating grin. Hesitantly, I guided his sex to my mouth, but I didn't open it to receive. Now it wasn't the first time I had done this, but it was the first time I had to do this unwillingly. It was going to be hard to make it through this, unless...

I looked up at Faire and stared hard at him. I concentrated as hard a I could, and then, his long hair shortened to his waist and the blond began to bleed black. His light skin paled even more, with a touch of honey blended in. Grey-green eyes were flooded with sienna and long dark lashes overtook blond ones. Full lips lightened and became more heart shaped, along with the transformation of softer features. And then suddenly, I was looking up at my one true love and desire. I was gazing into the eyes of the man I longed for instead of the man I hated.

"Reno." he spoke, though his voice had changed from the blond's deep one, to one more melodious and rich.

Yes, I could do this now, I thought as I stared up at the man I had transformed into Tseng. I could do this if I pretended that this was my boss, and not Faire. With renewed vigor, I firmly gripped the hot cock in my hand, which I now envisioned to be Tseng's.

I lapped at the tip and basked in sound of my bosses delicious moans, almost identical to the one's I had heard on the video. After a few teasing licks, I enveloped the head into my mouth with a moan. Tseng sighed in pleasure at the feeling of being inside my burning mouth. I sucked adamantly at his hot flesh, my hand wrapped around the base. I closed my eyes to help keep the vision of my boss. His cum slid down my throat as I suckled and licked at the sensitive head. My tongue trailed lightly over the pulsing underside vein. The teasing touch made Tseng arch into my mouth with a breathy moan.

"Ah, yes." he said full of desire and arousal.

He thrust his hips forward, wanting me to take more of him in. I allowed his sex to slip deeper into my mouth, eliciting a soft drawn out grown from him. I sucked him harder and slightly hallowed my cheeks, the soft flesh of my mouth constricting him like a vacuum. Fingers laced into my spiky red locks as I increased my pace on his hardened length. He was becoming slick with my saliva, making it easier for me to move up and down on him. My blunt teeth grazed his cock lightly, the soft pressure sending him to new heights.

His moans were becoming louder and more rapid. He was closer to his release. I could hear his heavy breathing and exaggerated groans. I slid my lips back down to the head, tightening my lips around it, my tongue nipping it teasingly. I envisioned Tseng's back arching beautifully into my mouth as I applied more pressure to the dripping head. His fingers gripped my hair almost painfully as he tried to force me stop teasing his slit and consume him. I obliged him and swallowed half of him in one foul swoop.

His hard sex throbbed in my mouth and his ragged groans increased in pitch. He was close to releasing and I opened my eyes to look up at my boss I had fabricated visually. Dark eyes filled with lust and need stared down at me,lips moist and parted. Oh god, this envisioned Tseng looked so real to me. In the back of my mind I was thinking, how was I able to conjure up a vision so seemingly real? But I didn't dwell on it to much as the beautiful vision before me began to thrust into my mouth. I hollowed my cheeks and tightened my lips as he raped my mouth with a steel cock.

"Coming!" his back arched and his muscles contracted. I braced myself as his warm fluid rushed into my already full mouth, causing some to seem out over my lips. With a heavy groan, he released his tight hold on my head and his cock went limp in my mouth. I drew back, letting the exhausted sex slip from my lips. I spat out what I could of his cum, making sure I didn't swallow to much.

I made to stand, but before I could, my false Tseng grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me up to meet his lips. He kissed me hard , holding me up by my shirt. My lips molded into his as I hesitantly kissed him back. He pulled me up onto his lap and made me sit facing him, our lips never parting. Tseng felt so good, I felt compelled to kiss him back. My tongue bolted into his mouth, and suddenly my false Tseng was starting to fade. No, Tseng didn't taste like this. This man tasted like he'd devoured a candy store. My vision was fading and I kept trying to bring it back, regardless of how he tasted.

His dark eyes had changed back to green and his long lashes were bleaching. Oh no, I thought fretfully. I had to concentrate or I wouldn't make it! With great will, I forced Tseng's complete vision back, blond lashes inked and green eye were replaced with chocolate colored ones. With my false Tseng back, I continued to kiss his lips, but I didn't dare use my tongue again. He made out with me for several minutes until he pulled me back. I looked into his dark eyes and a grin found its way to my lips.

"Something you find amusing?" False Tseng asked facetiously.

I shook my head. His fingers went for the first fastened button on my shirt . With nimble fingers, he quickly undid them until my shirt was opened. Warm hands pressed against my chest , his fingers running down them lightly. Obvious approval on his face, he wasted no time thumbing my pink nipples. The soft pads of his fingers pinched one between them and I released a moan. I looked into Tseng's hungry eyes and couldn't hold back the arousal that surged through me. He was just to beautiful.

"Tseng." I moaned out, unaware that I was touching his face. The dark haired fabrication smiled before kissing my lips sweetly.

"Tseng eh?" he smirked in amusement. " Yeah, I'll go with it." He pulled me closer to him until my exposed chest was right against his bare chest. Was both moaned simultaneously as our nipples rubbed up against each others chests.

Oh yes, Tseng! You're so hot and sexy. I thought as I went in for another one on of his kisses. Soft lips pressed against mine desperately, devouring my mouth. I wrapped my arms around his as he drew further into the bed, taking me along with him. Once in the middle, he released my lips and flipped me onto my back. I panicked for a moment before Tseng's reassuring hand caressed my face lovingly. I calmed down a bit and relaxed into the sheets. Tseng removed my shirt and tossed it. He then leaned down to take my pebbling nipple into his mouth. I moaned and arched up into his lips. His delicious tongue glided over it sensually and I felt my hands draw toward his head.

I embedded my fingers into his hair, forcing his head down to bring more contact. Tseng smiled against my nipple before assaulting it with his teeth.

"Ah, yeeessss." I hissed out in my pleasure. Tseng pulled it roughly before releasing it completely.

"So tell me, Love. May I fuck you, or would you like the honors? Either way I'm game." he said playfully.

"I...ah?" I thought about it for a moment, before coming to a conclusion. "I want to you to top. Make love to me Tseng."

"Very Good." He went for the hem of my pants and began undoing them. Normally, I was an indefinite Seme, but I had always thought that if there was anyone who I would let top me then it would be Tseng. Suddenly, my mind was struck with reality of this. This wasn't really Tseng, but an image I had conjured up to make it seem like it was with him, but it wasn't! This was the other man, the one I hated. I couldn't let him take me, especially since it would be my first time doing it this way. No, that was reserved for the one true Tseng, only.

As I came to my senses, my eyes widened in horror as the image I had worked so hard to maintain began to morph back into its original state. First, his dark hair lengthened and lightened, turn a bright shade of blond. Green bleed into his dark eyes until it had fully regained its color. Black lashed began to go blond at the tips until the color overtook them. And lastly, his soft facial features sharpened and his skin lost it pale honey glow, and was replaced by pale white skin.

Then I was staring at my enemy, instead my lover.

"No, no." I whispered out as he continued to pull down my pants. Once off, he wasted no time pulling down my underwear, until I was completely exposed. Vaguely aware of what he was doing, my mind raced with the feeling of guilt. How could I have done this? How could I have envisioned this malicious man to be my love. I let my desire for the dark haired man consume me to the point that I was about to let a false Tseng take me. A single tear danced in my eye as I weighed upon my guilt and self pity.

However, guilt was soon replaced by fear and anxiety as I felt him slip a cold wet finger into my bottom. I had been so lost in my thoughts I hadn't paid him any mind! I hissed as the slight burning feeling. He moved it around experimentally, prodding the tight walls that had never once been intruded.

"No wait, Faire!" I called out to him. "I've changed my mind. Let me top!"

With a devious smirk, he shook his head no and added another finger, eliciting a sharp gasp from me. "No I'm afraid I cant do that. This heat and tightness is incredible."

"Then I don't want to do this anymore!"

His smiled widened and he began thrusting and scissoring them inside me. My inner muscles contracted at the motion, causing shocked painful gasp from me.

"If I recall correctly, you choose to do this. You can leave anytime you want and I cant stop you. Of course then..." he said driffting off his sentence and nodding to the remains of the video I destroyed. Meaning if left he would ruin Tseng's life. I couldn't let that happen but, this was so unbearable. He began to thrust the two fingers in and out more roughly and rapidly. I winced and scowled at him in disgust.

"Will you stay?" he asked teasingly, though he already knew my answer. He forced in a third finger and my back arched off the bed in pain. I didn't answer, for the smart ass already knew my answer. He shoved them all in and out of my virgin hole until he was satisfied. He withdrew his fingers and they exited with a slick, wet pop. He then lubed up his cock and pressed it to my quivering entrance. I shook my head no, but I knew this was going to happen.

I expected pain, but not this much. Either I was too tight or he was too big, either way it made for a very painful combination. I screamed at the sharp pain and tears fell from my eyes. It hurt so much I couldn't hold them back. Still he continued on and pushed inside of me. I heard the sickening slick sound of being entered and felt it even more. His expression was one of absolute bliss as he sheathed himself into my hot hilt. Bile rose up in my throat as the man's solid steel rod throbbed inside of me.

When he was in as far as he could be, he grinned down at me. I shot daggers of revenge and a promise of death. He wasn't fazed and placed his hands firmly on my narrow hips. He winked at me before he began to move, slowly out of me only to slam harshly back in. I cried out at the sharp pain.

"Oh how tight you are! You're such a good little fuck. Ugh!" he pounded mercilessly into my ass painfully.

"Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!" I yelled out as tears of pain fell from my eyes. Then I cried out as he threw me over the side of the bed, leaving me half dangling off the bed, my body arched painfully as my ass and legs were still on the bed. He moaned as he pounded into my ass from up top, this new uncomfortable position was indeed more painful and more tears fell onto the cracked wooden floor. I all but screamed when the bit of his nails were digging into my hips. Oh god, did it hurt so much.

Suddenly, I heard loud noises from the other room. Gunshots. My eyes went wide at the possibilities. Rude had been over there. Was he safe? What was going on? I didn't have a mind to ponder as Faire reached down and grabbed my long ponytail. I winced as he pulled it back, causing my back to curve painfully, my neck ached. He thrust powerfully into me as he pulled my hair, a horribly uncomfortable position. Faire must have heard the gunshots so why wasn't he worried? Had he planned to separated us all along , only to kill Rude and rape me? No, that didn't make sense.

Then, to my horror, the door flung open violently and there he was, standing in the doorway looking like the angel of death. He was covered in blood and other unmentionables, meaning he had been doing some close range shooting His glasses were missing and for once I wished he had them on. The abhorred look Rude had as he stared at the scene of me bent over and being fucked my our enemy was now permanently burned into my memory. He paused for a moment before he pulled out his gun and aimed it at Faire's head, ready to fire.

"No Rude!" I yelled. Faire hadn't stopped thrusting into me either, even though he had a gun pointed at him. I was starting to question his sanity.

"Don't kill him!" I pleaded as he pulled my hair again, drawing a pained groan from me.

Rude didn't know what to do and appeared to be at odds with himself. Obviously he didn't understand the situation so he couldn't possibly comprehend what was going on. His Turk instincts and training told him to shoot and kill the man hurting his comrade but I couldn't let that happen. But Rude held his gun high as he aimed it at the thrusting man's head. Faire laughed but didn't relent, if anything he increased his pace. Tears were pouring from my eyes from the pain and humiliation, but I had to finish this. For Tseng and for our lives.

"Rude...no. Don't kill him...no...ahhh!" I screamed as Faire pulled my hair. Rude was using all of his restraint to hold back his fire, I could see it in his eyes. He wanted to protect me, but I was preventing him with the desperate sound of my pained voice.

"Reno..." he whispered out sadly as I was raped in front of him, his gun never lowering. His hands shook with restrained rage, the gun in his hand shaking as well. He wanted so badly to kill this man, but he couldn't. Right now,he had thrown all logic to the wind, only my pleas were keeping him from blowing his brains out.

Faire grunted as he released my hair to grip my hips with both hands. In the final throes of passion, he sped up and viciously banged my abused entrance. He groaned out loud in finality as he released his hot seed into my burning asshole. More bile rose up in my throat as he filled me. I was going to throw-up. Rude staring in confusion and rage looking down at me, and Faire's cum seeping out of my ass; it was all to much.

He withdrew from my body and dropped me to the floor. Still, Rude aimed his weapon at the satisfied blond. Through hazy eyes I saw that he was close to pulling the trigger. Naked and with fresh cum leaking from my ass, I crawled over to where Rude was. His eyes were locked onto Faire's with murderous intent. I grabbed his pant leg and pulled. He regarded me with mixed emotions prevalent in his dark eyes.

"No, Rude. Don't. We wont make it out alive if you kill him. There are more of them, and probably more coming from outside, hearing what you did."

I pulled myself up with a strain and grabbed my shirt. I wiped the mess off of me and tossed the shirt. Faire remained on the bed, stretched out like a big regal cat. His fierce pale green eyes locked with Rude's, as if daring him to kill him. Rude gritted his teeth at the blond's audacity. I has successfully pulled on my underwear and navy blue pants. Without my shirt, I put on my jacket leaving it open.

"Rude, Lets go. I'll explain everything later. But please, put your weapon down. We can't kill him yet or we'll never see Tseng again."

My asshole ached as I walked over to my angry friend. I placed my hand on his aiming arm and lowered it. The gun was brought down and though Rude's gaze never faltered. Faire smiled at this.

"You're not a dumb as I thought you were, Reno. This game is fun. Let's meet again, shall we?" he said coyly.

This time, I shot him my own fierce glare. "You better keep your promise."

"Of course. You'll get them this week in the mail. I'll send it to the Shin-Ra building and specifically address it to you. No need to worry."

Since Rude didn't seem as if he'd budge on his own, I pressed my hands against his chest and pushed back. He didn't move but he got the picture and purposefully let himself be led out the door.

Before I exited, I turned around to face him. I shot him a cocky grin and winked.

"My mark is upon you, meaning you are mine to kill. You'd better be careful, judgment day is soon and I assure you that when I do kill you, Tseng will be there right beside me."

And then I left.

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**A/N: Oh wow, you guys are awesome! Thanks to my faithful reviewers and readers. More please! They make me happy :) **


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Oh wow, I was so happy with the reviews from the last chap. Thanks to my faithful readers and reviewers! This was supposed to be posted last week but a storm messed up my internet! Oh well, here you go. Sans beta...

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**Wonderland Fallout**

**Tseng POV**

A silent fury burned inside of me as I stared up at the blond who stood over me. His soft green eyes held an amused glint as he casually straightened up his suit. Setsumaru, the one who had filmed the whole event, took off his mask as well. A smooth youthful face was revealed. His eyes were a light brown and he was most definitely of Wutaiian descent. Setsumaru closed up his camera and took his stance next to Faire. The malicious blond flipped his hair and winked at the beak nosed man standing in the corner.

"Thanks, this was fun." he said cheekily.

Carous shook his head. "It is I who should be thanking you, Mr. Faire Wainwright. It was you who sold us this feral whore. He already has so many customers lined up, we're making a killing. Unfortunately, he's been very uncooperative, but somehow you managed to subdue the wild thing."

I bit my lip to stifle the growl that was brewing in my throat. I had remained quiet for the most part, such a shock I was in. My anger was rising by the second and I knew the littlest thing would set me off. As I lay on the cold floor, I couldn't help but berate myself. Most of the anger I had was actually toward myself, toward my whole situation. So great was my disappointment in myself that I thought I did not deserve to be called the Turk Chief. I had failed and given into the enemy's pleasure instead of resisting no matter what.

I felt like a complete failure, but I knew this had been Carous' intention in the first place. He had wanted to break my spirit and although I did feel like shit, this unfortunate occurrence would not be enough to break me. No where near it. Carous was trying to give me a punishment that would normally discourage the average person. I was not the average person though. I had been trained to withstand pain and torture, to embrace difficultly and kill without regard.

Then a thought came to my mind that I hadn't considered. I was a Turk, and I had been trained for years to withstand agony and blistering pain. But, I had never been trained to withstand pleasure. I could take a bullet in the shoulder blade and still continue to fight without restraint, but when my enemy was giving me intense pleasure instead of pain, I couldn't take it. My body had not been trained to resist a sensual touch, only to bleed and keep on fighting. I was out out of my element. From a world where where your captives torture you until you talk, to a world where they fuck you until you scream in ecstasy.

Had I been doomed even before I was dragged into this room? The sound of footsteps moving closer whipped me from my thoughts. Faire's tall form blocked my view from the white ceiling I had been staring at. A smirk formed on his moist lips as he peered down at me. My fury returned tenfold.

"I must admit, you look really sexy in that short disheveled kimono. I much prefer this outfit to your previous attire."

I resisted the urge to say, "this coming from a man who normally dresses like a damn circus clown." But I held my tongue.

Setsumaru came up beside his friend and playfully kissed his cheek. "What are we gonna do with the tape? I was thinking of selling it."

I did react to that. My eyes widened in apprehension. That tape could not get out. If leaked, it could get to Shin-Ra and I would lose more than just my job. My reputation would be over and my credibility questionable. Though I didn't think I would be fired exactly, but it would be difficult to face any of my Turks or any Execs at Shin-Ra. I would become a laughing stock and would be remembered for my sex tape scandal, rather than what I had accomplished over the years. No, I could not let that happen.

"Well that got to em'." Setsumaru commented.

Faire laughed and grabbed the tape Setsumaru was handing him. He tossed it up in the air and caught it. His lips curled up into a devious grin.

"So, little Tseng. What do you think I should do about this tape? Hmm?" The long haired blond jested.

I didn't respond but I would give anything to have that tape destroyed.

"No opinion on the matter? Very well then. Setsu, why don't we sell it to that porn company, Silver Entertainment?"

This time I shook my head at the suggestion. My nerves were instantly on edge.

"Oh no? And why shouldn't I? Setsu and I could make a lot of Gil. What will you do to compensate my loss of income?"

I lowered my eyes and swallowed up my pride. "Anything..." I said lowly.

Faire snickered. "That's the correct response!" He said giddy. With a slight bounce in his step, he bounded over to the overseer Carous. The bird like man stepped forward with a pleased smirk.

"You are to behave yourself. You will not lash out and attack anyone. Whether this video gets sold is entirely dependent on your behavior."

"Sure." I said sounding irritated and slightly defeated.

Carous turned to Faire and bowed politely. "Thank you for helping us with this tyrant."

"It's was my pleasure." The tall blond said.

With a slight nod, Faire and Setsumaru said goodbye to Carous. Faire paused at the door to look back at me. He smiled wide, his perfect white teeth gleaming. He winked at me before he left completely. The small hooked nosed man stood over my body and took out a key. He leaned down to unlock the chains around my wrists. Once they were free I sighed and sat up, wincing at the pain in my backside. Trying to salvage some of my dignity, I held my short kimono closed. With an groan of discomfort, I stood up and directed my glare at Carous.

"You need to get cleaned up. You have a customer later on tonight."

I didn't respond back but I did need to bathe. The term "dirty" didn't even began to describe how I felt at the moment with Faire's disgusting cum slowly dripping down my legs. Suddenly, my stomach made an audible noise of hunger. I didn't even remember when I had had my last meal. Carous smiled and signaled for me to follow him, which I reluctantly did.

"I'll show you to the dinning area also." he added.

With every step I took, more sticky wetness oozed from my behind and down my thighs. I wanted to throw up, but I held down my bile. As we walked down the long corridor, I wondered what time it was. There were no windows so I couldn't calculate the passage of time. Carous had said it night so I had to assume that it was indeed as he said it was.

We soon arrived at a large open area with a huge bathing area, a rather large bath with a fountain was in the center. There were arched pathways that broke off from the main area, most likely leading to more private bathing accommodations. The tall cathedral like ceiling was painted with vivid scenes of graphic sex. The walls were tiled a soft blue at the base, but also had paintings of lustrous relations on it. To my surprise, there were actually a few other people here. All men, all very beautiful. Some were lounging naked along the side of the tub, whilst others were relaxing in the heated baths.

Carous turned to me and made to hand me something. It was a two keys and a black card with the word "Violence" written on it in gold letters. I arched a brow in question.

"These keys allow you to get into your room and workplace, and this..." he said in regards to the black card, "Is the only way you can leave the room. What you do is you slide your card through and a voice will ask you for your reasons to leave the room. Just respond appropriately."

Good. With this card I could leave the room to investigate this place without restraint. I needed to get the hell out of this prison. But one thing was bothering me.

"Why is the word, violence, inscribed on this card?" I asked.

Carous smiled. "I'm glad you asked. Whenever a new whore comes, I evaluate them and write down the first word that comes to mind. Whatever the word is, that becomes your identity. This is what you will be referred to."

I gave him an annoyed look. "My name is Violence?" I asked sarcastically.

"In so many words, yes. But you don't have to go by it. It's more of a reference for me. But enough of that, go into one of the private baths and get cleaned up. There will be a new set of clothes for you in your room and new outfits in your workplace. Pick something nice for your client tonight. You will be expected to be in your workplace in two hours."

"And if I'm not?"

"Then more punishments will ensue, not to mention a little video of yours will be distributed."

I sighed and nodded my head.

"Also, the dinning area is two corridor's down from your room. Take the hall with the candle lit lights."

With that, Carous went on his way, leaving me to my bathing. I walked across the bathing grounds without looking at any of the whores who were staring curiously at me. Their stares were making me uncomfortable, but my expression remained neutral. I crossed the grounds without an interference and entered one of the private sectors. There were three doors. Two of then had the occupied sign, so I took the unoccupied one.

The room was a fairly good size, a nice sized tub was in the center. Various scented body washes and shampoos lined the walls. The tub was already filled and seemed ready to be used. I peeled off my kimono and tossed it to the side. I selected Honey Vanilla body wash and Misty Springs Shampoo and conditioner in one.

Slowly, I stepped into the water and descended. The water was hot, but not as to scald me. I lowered my body down and hissed when my sore bottom touched the water. The hot water enveloped me like a heated blanket, covering me completely.

A soft sigh spilled from my lips as I closed my eyes and let the water just soothe me for a bit. This was indeed heavenly. Maybe I should take baths more often, they seem a bit more relaxing than a showers. My hair settled on top of the water, resembling black ink. I ran my fingers through it and scowled when I encountered a tangle. Almost instantly I began to rake my fingers through it aggressively. I absolutely hated tangles. My hair was my one true vanity and I wanted it to always look perfect.

I submerged under the water and stayed underneath for a few seconds before coming back up. I grabbed the shampoo/conditioner and began to wash my long hair thoroughly. Sometimes I thought about cutting it shorter but the idea would usually dissipate when I had the scissors near my head. As vain as it was, I loved my long dark tresses and I prided myself on being immaculate.

When my hair was clean, I submerged again to remove the shampoo. I reached to my left for a washcloth. Pouring a bit of body wash onto the white cloth, I lathered up and began to slowly began to clean my body. The scent of Honey Vanilla smelled pleasant and soon filled the room. I cleaned everywhere, avoiding the area that would cause me most problems until last. I ran my fingers through my tangle free hair and a proud grin formed on my face. I loved being tangle free.

On a more somber note, I had to attend to the area I had been avoiding. It had been awhile since I had to rid someone's ejaculatory fluids from my body. I didn't have sex often due to work, but when I did I normally used a condom to keep clean up easy. Which is another thing that surprised me. Normally I was predominately the one on top and hadn't been bottom for quite some time. At one point I hated being on the bottom because it brought back painful memories. But the memories didn't reemerge this time. Did that mean I had finally blocked them off for good? I surely hoped so.

I rested my head on the side of the tub and closed my eyes. I spread my legs a bit and maneuvered my hand down to my abused entrance. With gritted teeth, I pushed my middle finger into my cum filled hole began to remove the fluid in there. I twisted my finger around to make sure I was getting everything out. Once clean, I reached down into the water and pulled the plug. I stepped out as the water drained and grabbed a plush white towel. I dried off and towel dried my hair.

There was a vanity in the room and I quickly made use of it. I stared into the mirror and frowned. I would give anything for my organic hair styling cream. I just didn't look all that intimidating without my slicked back hair and navy blue suit. My features were naturally soft and my height wasn't that impressive compared to the other Turks. I was taller than the girls at least. I didn't have my weapon or any weapon in my possession. I was virtually a stripped Turk. But I did still have my skills, and that did count for a lot.

Without a care I left my clothes behind and grabbed a white bathrobe. I put it on and left the bathroom for someone else to clean. I did feel better now that I was clean but I was still really hungry. Plus I had to "entertain" in an hour or so. I still had to figure out how I was going to get out of that one.

The bathing grounds had considerably more people when I came back out. I ignored them and continued on my way. I walked down the hall I thought was the right one but it turned out to be the wrong one. So I kept walking and walking until I finally found it. I opened the door with my key and entered. The room was completely dark. I fumbled around for the light switch until I found it and flipped into on. After a quick survey, I realized that Jiao was not there. I shrugged my shoulders and went to search for some decent clothes in the closet.

The clothes were casual and neatly hung up. I selected a white dress shirt and black slacks. I dressed quickly and grabbed a hair clap from the vanity in the room. My hair was still a bit damn but I put it up regardless. I heard my stomach rumble again and I hurriedly put on some black dress socks and shoes. I did a once over of myself in the full length mirror and actually smiled. It was nice to be in my element once again. Out of habit, I made sure my hair was just how I wanted it to be before I headed for the door. I pulled out the card Carous gave me and was about to slide it through the card swipe when I heard a key turn on the other side.

I stepped back and Jiao came in. He had a look of distress and a bit of fear. His eyes locked with mine before he burst into tears and lunged for me. He wrapped his arms around my neck and began sobbing. Instinctively I tensed up but he didn't relent. I looked at his sad form and saw that he was quite disheveled and had a few marks upon his exposed skin. He was hot in temperature and was perspiring. The outfit he had on was that of a school girl and it was quite torn. I had an idea of what might have happened but I asked anyway.

"What happened to you, Jiao?"

He looked at me with tear filled dark eyes and his lip quivered. "It...hurt, so much." he managed to say. "It was so awful Tseng. I never...never want to do it again!" he cried even harder and I felt his tears soak through my shirt.

"The...the man he made me where this girls outfit and he made me...he made me..." he burst out into a crying fit and tightened his hold around me.

My arms were by my side, my fingers twitched anxiously. Once again I did not know what to do. Should I hug him or tell him something? I felt really uncomfortable and awkward. A Turk was the last person you wanted to console you, but for his sake I would have to do something at least! I cleared my throat nervously and slowly began to wrap my arms around him. I didn't know what to say just yet so I didn't say anything. Jiao seemed to calm down once in my embrace so I just held him and let him cry.

I understood what he was going through, and I knew first hand that he was in pain, physically and emotionally. Jiao had just had experienced sex for the first time with someone who didn't love him or care about his satisfaction. He had been used for someones pleasure and that was it. Reality was sinking in now and he couldn't help but cry.

"He taunted me." he sobbed out. "he kept saying, 'come and play with me you sweet little virgin'. Then he put his cock in my mouth and I thought I was going to choke to death. It was so awful."

His cries were becoming little gasps after a hard cry when one tries to stop but can't completely. "He had sex with me and I bled. I cried during the whole thing and it just turned him on even more."

He looked at me with large, sad eyes and a defeated expression. "Please Tseng, get me out of here. Please." he whispered as his sobs died down.

I placed my hand behind his head and ran my finger though his shoulder length dark hair soothingly. I remember my mother used to do this to me when I was younger and it always made me feel better. It seemed to be working for Jiao as well.

"I will, don't worry. I will." I said as softly as I could. I guided him over to the bed and made him lie down. He would need to clean up eventually but right now he needed rest. I pulled the covers up on him and massaged his scalp as he drifted off to sleep. His light snoring signaled he was asleep and I sighed. I changed my now tear stained shirt and made to leave once again. I noticed something on the ground and picked it up. It was Jiao's keys and key card, but whereas my card said "Violence", his said "Lovely".

I placed theses objects on the dresser and turned my attention to the keypad. I swiped my card and waited for something to happen.

"Hello Violence, please state your purpose." a soft voice said.

"Dining." I stated simply.

"Very good. Please note that you have a job with a Mr. Armand Roux in thirty minutes." And with that the door clicked unlocked. I exited quietly and closed the door softly behind me. I made a mental note of the supposed customer's name.

I walked in the direction Carous had said the dinning hall was in. I followed the candle lit lights and made it to the large dinning complex in no time. There was one big eating area but there were a variety of little restaurants to choose from. This place was more dense with people and had a slight relaxed and cheery feel to it. I could smell the food and my stomach growled. I quickly choose a Vegetarian place and ordered meatless spaghetti with a side of salad. My stomach gnawed at me as the food was prepared in front of me. I licked my lips in anticipation as I waited. When the cook finished, I selected a light basil and vinegar dressing to top my salad. I grabbed a water bottle and looked for a place to sit.

I sat in the corner of the vast diner and audibly sighed once I took a bite of the dish. The noodles were cooked to perfection and the marinara sauce was delicious. I wanted to gobble it down but I restrained myself and savored each bite. After my meal, I decided to head over to my "workplace". I walked through the web of color coded halls until I finally came to the black lit hall. I found my room and opened it with the key the overseer gave me.

Dread filled me as I flipped on the light switch and looked around the dark themed room. The first thing I did, was take all the knives down. I didn't want a repeat of what happened earlier. I hid a small dagger underneath the pillow just in case. I still hadn't figured out how I was going to avoid having sex with this guy but I hoped something would come to me.

I knew I was supposed to change into a sexy costume or whatever but I wasn't going to. After looking over the outrageous costumes in the closet I decided that my dress shirt and slacks were sexy enough. There was a small but adequate bar in the room and I made myself acquainted with it. I poured a glass of fine Wutaiian rice wine and lounged on the couch, sipping lazily at my drink. Completely content with relaxing on the sofa, I put my feet up and laid my head on the armrest.

I remained this way and didn't make any effort to move, even when the door clicked open. I heard the person place their stuff down and let out a exasperated sigh. I took another sip from my drink and closed my eyes. There were a few sounds of rummaging before I heard the patter of footsteps coming my way. A soft laugh came from him as he came to a stop behind me.

"Just my luck." he said lightheartedly. His voice was smooth and held no tone of actually animosity. "I got a lazy whore."

I snapped at that. "I'm not a whore."

"Oh really? That's odd because I thought I paid for a whore." He came round to peer down at my outstretched form on the sofa. I was slightly taken aback by his gorgeous appearance. His features were soft and feminine. His chest length hair was a silky black and was tied back into a loose ponytail. His eyes were a brilliant hazel, though the color gold was most predominate. A small nose and pink lips made him appear even more feminine. He wore a black business suit and with fine white gloves. He seemed to be about my height and had a lighthearted feel about him. But I couldn't be fooled by his persona. I mean, he had come here with the intention to fuck me.

"Well..." he said as he took a seat down by my feet. "If you're not a whore ,then what are you?" He said with a slight amused grin.

I took another sip of my wine and ignored him. Surely I wasn't going to tell him I was a Turk. I just had to make it known that I was not a whore. He stared at me with interest and a gleam in his eye.

"Okay, if you're not a whore then what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was taken and sold against my will." I said straightforwardly. His cheery expression fell and a look of grave sorrow grace his pretty features. Was he faking? Or did he actually care?

"I see. I'm so sorry." he lowered his eyes and looked away from me. I tried to sense if he was just fucking with me or if he was genuinely regretful. Try as I might, I couldn't sense any trickery or deceit but that didn't mean I would trust him in the least.

"I...I didn't know that they did that sort of thing here." he said lowly. "That's just horrible. I can't sleep with someone who is being forced to do this. That's like rape. No, it is rape!"

"Tell me, what it your name?" he asked.

"Tseng. You can call me Tseng." I said evenly.

"Tseng." he repeated back. "I like it. It's cute."

I wanted to roll my eyes at the comment but didn't. He had said he wasn't going to sleep with me so I at least could be civil with him.

Suddenly he stood up and looked down at me with determination in his golden irises. "Well Tseng, I don't know how I'm going to do it but I'ma help you get out of here!"

I laughed humorlessly and took another sip of my drink. "Sure." I said condescendingly.

"I'm serious! I want to get you out of here. You don't deserve this." he said. He knelt down by my side and grasped my non wine holding hand. His eyes shone brightly up at me before he bowed his head. His lips kissed my fingertips and he rubbed the back of my hand against his smooth cheek.

"Tseng, I will do anything to help you. I don't think I would be allowed to buy your freedom but somehow I'll get you out."

I looked down at him with mixed emotions. My intuition was telling me to trust him, but my more cautious and non trusting Turk side was telling me not to. He looked up at me with pleading eyes, begging me to let him help me.

"Why do you want to help me...Armand." I said. I had remembered his name from the message earlier. He smiled and kissed my hand once again. I didn't know why I was letting him touch me but I just couldn't bring myself to tear my hand away.

"Because dear Tseng, you deserve your freedom and I will not stand for this. You have my word as a gentleman." he said admirably.

I laughed lightly. "If I allow you to do this, will you promise to follow my every request?"

"My, my. You sure are spoiled, but I will follow your every word. I swear."

For some reason, I liked the way he was submitting to me. It reminded me of the authority I had when I was at Shin-Ra. I sat up from my reclined position and placed my fingers underneath the gorgeous man's chin. Tilting his head up, I met his surprised eyes and grinned.

"Well, Armand, lets start planning. Fist off, I will require two pistols, several cases of gasoline and two dozen bombs."

His eyes went wide in shock. "Why do you need all that? Are you trying to blow up the place?"

My grin widened as I ran my fingers through his silky soft hair before I planted a soft kiss on his lips. He closed his eyes and melted into my kiss, his plush lips felt wondrously like cotton wrapped in silk. I pulled back and stared into his eyes. His gold irises shone with complete submission and I knew that I had him under my control. As a Turk, I couldn't allow myself to be controlled and dependent on another that wasn't one of my own. I had to fully control the situation if I could, even if I was being aided by a kind hearted fool such as Armand. I basically just met him and I didn't want to risk my life or reputation by not being cautious.

"Will you do as I command, Armand?" I questioned. The beautiful dark haired man nodded his head and kissed my cheek.

"Yes, I will do whatever you want me to." he said, totally under my control.

"Good." I gave him a quick kiss before I reclined back into the comforts of the couch. Then I took a sip of my wondrous rice wine, which seemed to taste even better.

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**Can this new accomplice really help Tseng? Can he be trusted? Hmm...**

**Reviews = much love :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Warning: reference to child abuse.**

**Song "I can tell" by 504 Boyz. Lol, don't look it up. It's so horrible, but so Reno.**

**Also, thanks for a over 1,500 hits this month on Wonderland Fallout so far! Makes me feel good because I know my editing sucks, but you still continue to read. Thank you all. **

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**Wonderland Fallout **

**Tseng's POV**

My session with Armand had not yet ended. He remained seated at the end of the sofa I was currently lounging on. I poured another glass of rice wine and casually offered some to the generous man. With a smile and a brief shake of his head, he declined. I shrugged my shoulders and drank it half full. Ah! It was just so wonderful, this rice wine. So rich and full of flavor. It was just like my homeland of Wutai. Though I had only lived there for six years, the island city had left a lifetime impression on me. I often took my vacation's there, trying to recapture the feeling of my time as a child here. But Wutai was no longed the powerful nation it once was. It was a nation devastated by war, though traditions still ran deep, it would never be the same.

After I finished my glass and poured another one. I didn't normally drink so much, but the wine was releasing my tension and I felt really relaxed and calm. Pleasantly buzzed, I sipped lazily at my rice wine and a slight grin formed on my lips as I stared at the beautiful man down by my feet. He was siting quietly, seemingly pondering.

"Hey...you." I manged to say with a slight slur. I had a low tolerance for alcohol, but I couldn't stop drinking this good shit.

He regarded me with a smile of his own, obviously amused. "Perhaps you've have had a little to much my friend."

"Pssh no." I said, dismissing his suggestion. This time I grabbed the bottle and started downing it. Oh god, it just tasted so good. I couldn't get enough.

"Um...Tseng? Perhaps you should stop drinking and starting planning your escape?" He tried to go for the bottle in my hand but I snatched it back protectively.

"Noooo." I whined out. It was my drink! Why was he taking it away from me?

"Really Tseng, you should stop. We need to plan. I want to get you out of here. I know that the alcohol is helping you cope temporarily, but you'll regret it in the morning."

That's what he had said, but all I heard was, "Tseng, we need, alcohol, in the morning."

I laughed at him and leaned forward, since my vision was getting blurry. "Why wait till morning. The drink's right here!" I ended in vociferous laughter.

Armand sighed and stood up. He walked over to a counter where there was a coffee machine. "I'm going to make you some coffee, to help you sober up."

I shook my head and winced at the dizzy after affect. "Hell no! I don't wanna be...um, sober. I feel good right now."

He snickered and continued to make the coffee, whilst I continued to drink. "Hey you!" I called out to....um? What was his name again? "Arnold." then I laughed once I realized I had called him by the wrong name. I laughed so hard I had tears in the corner of my eyes. The other dark haired man just smirked and crossed his arms.

"You forgot my name already? The one who is actually trying to help you?" he snapped, though he didn't seem angry. Only dis...disa...disappointed! Yes that was the word!

"I know your name, but it's not Arnold!" I found this to be so funny that I was holding my side through the pains of laughter.

"Oh real funny." he said with a playful tone.

"But ser- riou-sly," Had that word always been so hard to say. "Why are you here? You came to fuck me, and now you say you want to help me. For why?" I manged to get out with a few slurs here and there.

"Actually I came with a friend. He's the one who actually paid for your services. He's in the next room over."

"Probably fucking the shit out of his bound whore." I added. I hiccuped and pointed a finger at the two moving figures in front of my eyes. "But don't ask me to suck your cock cause I ain't gonna do it. Okay maybe I'll do it. If you reeeaaaaally want me to."

Whats-his-name groaned in irritation and regarded the coffee machine. "Hurry up!" he yelled at the slow coffee maker.

"Hey!" I snapped out, standing up abruptly and swaying as soon as I did. "Mr. Coffee Maker didn't do shit. It's not his fault he's so slow." I said, rightfully sticking up for the poor little machine.

"All his life he's been told he's to slow or stupid, but he really isn't! People just don't have patience." I stumbled as I made my way over to Mr. Coffee. I petted the top and kissed it lightly.

"Don't worry lil' coffee buddy. I know you can..." I stopped when I suddenly realized I was comforting a machine I laughed again at the silliness of it all and almost tripped over nothing. The dark haired beauty caught me though.

"You okay there?" he asked concerned.

"Yeah I'm cool, yo. I'm good and shit." I said, mocking the slum drawled accent. Then, I suddenly perked up and gripped his shoulders. A wide smiled graced my face and I bounced up and down gleefully.

"My friend talks like that! My friend talks like that!" I said giddy. "His name is Reno! Reno!"

"Reno?" the dark haired man said with a raised brow. I nodded happily, though now I was really dizzy.

"Yes! I fucking love him!" I laughed and hugged him tightly. I was just so happy to be talking about my Reno. "He's so funny sometimes, but sometimes he really annoying. I still love him though. He's my bestest friend but I wanna fuck him too."

"Please don't talk like that Tseng. It's vulgar." he scolded. I wasn't listening.

"But if you had ever seen him, you'd be like, damn I wanna fuck you. Sometimes, when I see him, I just wanna hold him and tell him I love him and that his hair is really cool. But then other times I just wanna bend that ass over my desk and fuck him so hard he starts speaking my language."

Armand shook his head and sighed. "Good Grief."

I took another swig of my drink and smiled contently. I loved thinking about Reno. He was so hot and funny. That's pretty much all my intoxicated head could grasp. I could make out his features in my haze, so lovely, so beautiful, so sexy. I moaned slightly at the image, which seemed to startle my new friend.

"Tseng, you okay?" he asked concerned.

"Oh yeah." I said, closing my eyes. My fingers twitched on my thigh as I thought of the red haired Aphrodite. I was so getting turned on by the image of him alone. It was getting hot and I couldn't think straight, not as if I was anyway.

"Sooo hot." I moaned out. In my attempt to calm myself down, I began to unbutton my shirt and loosen my slacks.

In the distance of my hazy, lust filled and drunken mind, I heard Armand laugh. He then said something, but I dunno what. At the moment, I could only think of one thing, Reno. He was so funny, I really missed him.

"Damn it's so fucking hot." I hissed out. Then I started to pour my wine over my head and chest to cool down.

"Tseng, you drunken fool!" the dark haired gentleman called out.

Suddenly, I thought about this little song Reno used to sing in the halls, or whenever he was drunk or sober. Then I started to sing as I continued to pour the wine on me and think about Reno.

"You ain't gotta say to much from the look in your eyes I can tell you wanna fuck! And you ain't gotta call me your boo just as bad as you wanna fuck I wanna fuck too!"

I sung my heart out, singing the dirty lyrics melodiously as I became wet with wine. Armand was yelling something at me but I didn't hear. I just kept singing. I tossed the bottle to the ground as my hands began to wander and roam across my chest.

"Tseng stop that!" he snapped.

I stared him right in the eyes and sang, " You ain't gotta say to much from the look in your eyes I can tell you wanna fuck." I moaned out the last profanity, all while keeping eye contact. Armand shook his head and stood up quickly from the couch. He backed away from me as I continued to sing, my eyes never losing contact.

"Stop saying that! What are you trying to accomplish here! Nice singing voice by the way..." he added nervously. I smiled and stood up on wobbly legs. Once I regained my footing, I sauntered over to him, swaying my hips slightly as I did. I trailed my fingers down my wet chest and washboard abs as I approached him. I whipped the clamp from my head and my hair fell down like a dark curtain around my face.

"Just as bad as you wanna fuck," I sang as I came to a stop right in front of his blushing face. I reached my hand out and touched his cheek gently. My lips brushed against his as I sang the last part.

"I wanna fuck too." I said sensually before I closed the space between us. The kiss didn't last long. Armand pulled away and stepped back a few feet. I wasn't deterred in the least.

"Tseng listen to me. You're really, really drunk right now. I cant do this and I will not take advantage of you." he said honorably. I could care less. I continued to sing the chorus, cause I only knew that part by heart.

I opened my shirt wider as I moved in on him. My nimble fingers trailed over my dusky pink nipples, already hard. With my skin moist and slick from the wine, my fingers flowed across my body seamlessly. I reached out and grabbed his arm. Slowly I began to drag him back to the sofa singing lustfully. "I can tell you wanna fuck."

"No I don't!" he said, though he wasn't really fighting back.

I shoved him onto the couch and licked my lips eagerly. God I felt so good, I wanted to feel like this forever. I think I always say that when I'm drunk though. Humming the tune now, I knelt down on the ground, more like fell though. Armand was staring down at me with apprehension. He was hot too. Shiiiiit. When you're smashed, anybody's fuckable.

"Tseng please don't try and seduce me! I don't want to fuck you, I want to help you." he pleaded.

"And you ain't gotta call me your boo just as bad as you wanna fuck I wanna fuck too!" I sang, while I started undressing.

Fed up with my antics, Armand leaned down and smacked me in the face. "Stop this!"

I rubbed my sore cheek and laughed. "Ouch, that really hurt."

"Don't do this, alright. Try and think about the love of your life, Reno okay. Not me, Reno."

Bad Advice. I instantly sprawled out across the carpeted floor, trying to undress as quickly as possible. I was so hot, my entire body was burning, consume by the flames that were Reno. I touched my chest and pinched my hard nipples. Thoughts of Reno were making me aroused.

"Oh yessss, Reno! Come and find me!Come and fill me!" I arched my hips off the ground provocatively. "Ugh, come and fuck me! I wanna fuck too!"

Then I felt a sharp pain. Armand had kicked me in the side. I rolled over in pain, my head dizzy.

"I thought you loved this Reno? What would he say if he saw you acting like this. I'm sure he'd be very disappointed."

I laughed so hard I almost threw up. "Oh god, that's sooo funny. I dunno why but it is."

He sighed and looked at the coffee maker again, pleading with the slow machine to hurry up.

"You wanna know what's really funny? I really dunno if he..., if he's gay. He flirts with me but I dunno know if he's serious and shit. I like, want to know because I love him and what if I get the nerve to say, fuck the rules and just go for it. Things are so complicated. I hope he's queer like me. Yum."

Armand quirked an interested brow. "Complicated? How so?"

"Well first off, I'm his boss and if I love him then he might die. I don't want him to die, cause I love him. Do you love him? I love him more than you!"

"Um?"

"I just dunno if he's queer or not. I'm a queer you know. My daddy used to say so all the time!" I said giggling. But as soon as I said it, Armand's eye's widened in shock.

"Daddy? Your father you mean?" he asked, his voice wavering. I smiled lopsidedly and nodded again.

"Yeah, my father. Though he used to like it when I called him daddy more." I pulled him closer and whispered into his ear. "Especially at night."

Armand gasped and pushed me back. My grip faltered and I fell back hard onto my butt. "Fucking ouch!" I said through laughter. I saw my wine on the floor and reached for it, but Armand grabbed me by my wrist, halting me. I whined and tried to reach for it but I couldn't. Aw man, it was so close.

"Lemme drink!" I whimpered. But Armand's look was so serious that I forgot about what I was struggling for.

"Did your father touch you at night?" he asked shakily, fearing my answer.

"Oh he did more than that." I giggled. "Daddy fucked me almost every night cause I was his little baby boy!" I laughed and made another attempt to stand up. A wave of dizziness flooded into my senses and I held my arms out, trying to keep my balance.

"Oh shit!" I said as I almost fell. Armand still had that shocked expression on his face.

"Tseng, how....how old were you when...this happened?"

I hiccuped and stroked my chin, thinking. "Um...I dunno really. Seven? Ten? Fifty? At first he only watched and told me what to do."

"Watched?"

"Yeah...um?" I was trying so hard to focus, my brain hurt. "He would...tell me to touch my little cock in front of him and he would then touch his." I cocked my head to the side in thought. "I wonder if I'm bigger than him now?"

Armand was shaking his head now, his hands wrapped round his waist and looking as if he'd throw up. Funny, I was starting to feel that way myself. Something was wrong.

"Tell me this isn't true. Tell me it didn't happen." He said with tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"Um...I _could_ say that but it would be a lie. I like you so I won't lie to you, okay?" I said with a smile. But Armand didn't look any better, if anything he looked worse. I felt bad for him and touched his hair gently.

"Awww, It's okay. I wasn't always by myself. I had a friend there too sometimes."

"What!" he yelled in horror. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean silly boy, is that I had my brother with me. It was always better with him. It didn't hurt as much because his cock was so small. I wonder if it's bigger now?" I pondered.

Armand was visibly turning green. "You...had sex with your...brother?"

"Um...I think so. All I know is that it daddy would tell him to put his cock in me and he did. It was better with him than with daddy. Daddy hurt me."

Why was I telling him this?Why couldn't I stop? Where was my high going! My walls! My mental barriers! Put them up! Put them up!

"No! No more, please!" the dark haired gentlemen pleaded. But for some odd reason, I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop the memories from erupting from my mouth. I couldn't focus. I couldn't put my barriers back up! Someone help me!

"He hurt me till I bled. Until I was screaming and begging him to stop. He never did, not once."

What was wrong with me? Why was I saying all of this? Why?

"I cried and screamed for help, for mommy's help but she never came. She never even heard me. She was deaf. She would never be able to hear me."

Why were tears streaming down my face? Why were tears pouring from Armand's eyes as well? Where was my good feeling! Please, come back!

"I hollered till I was hoarse. Till I could hardly breathe. But she never came. She couldn't hear me." I suddenly became weak in the knees and fell.

Why can't I stop! Please, stop! Stop!

"My brother and I would scream when he wanted us both. Zhao would always beg me, when daddy was hurting him, making him bled, he would always beg for my help and never once did I succeed. I could never help him, my baby brother."

"Please shut up! Just shut up!" Armand yelled. "I can't take it anymore! Please!"

"I was too weak. I couldn't protect him. I couldn't help him! Why? Why couldn't I save him! Why!" I looked at Armand's tear stained face.

"My father was a doctor, yet he hurt me, us, his own children! He wanted me to become a doctor too but I couldn't! I didn't want to be like him! Saving people during the day and killing my sons every night!"

"My mother, though deaf was an obstetrician. She worked with people who were in pain everyday! Why couldn't she see our pain?" I looked at him as if expecting an answer.

Armand was crying out loud now.

"Why am I here? Is it because I was daddy's whore?" I asked, eyes red rimmed.

"No, no! You're not a whore!" Armand ran towards me and wrapped his arms around me. "You're not. I'm going to get you out of here. You can count on me! I won't fail you! I won't!"

I relaxed into his arms and my sobs eventually lessened.

"He has my eyes." I said lowly, tears flowing. "Reno. He has my eyes. Filled with pain, sorrow, hurt. I love him, you know. He can save me."

"No Tseng, I will save you." he said brushing his fingers up against my wet cheek. I shook my head no.

"Only he can save me from falling. Only he can. I love him."

"I understand." he said softly. I closed my eyes, my head now pounding. I was so tired, so tired. I cracked one eye a bit to see the coffee machine blinking, signaling it's completion.

"Mr. Coffee Maker may be slow, but I guarantee that will be the best damn cup of coffee you've ever had."

Everything went silent and then came the darkness.

…

I was warm and very comfortable. My head was throbbing and I felt like I'd been hit with a crowbar. With a wide yawn, I opened one sleepy eye and my vision slowly but surely focused and cleared. The room was dim and I had no idea what time it was. I couldn't see the damn clock on the wall. I groaned as I tried to sit up, the pain in my head elicited a hiss from me. Once I was upright, I grasped my pounding head.

"Son of a bitch." I swore as my head ached terribly. Fucking hell. What happened to me?

"Here." A voice said next to me. "Take this."

I looked to the side to see the gentlemen Armand with his hand outstretched, offering pills a water. I took them eagerly and sighed after I drank the water.

"What happened last...night?" My question slowly dissipated as I took in Armand's appearance. His eyes were puffy and red, like he'd been crying for a long time.

"You got drunk." he said simply, though I knew there had to be more to it.

"I did? I don't know how that could have happened. I have about zero tolerance for the stuff." A familiar smell filled the air and I licked my lips. "Is that coffee?"

He nodded his head. "Yup. Would you like a cup?"

I nodded and he went to go make me a cup. I tried to get out of bed but my head pounded when I moved to much. I must have really fucked up last night. We were supposed to have gone over plans and I was supposed to acquire from him the information I needed about this place. Damn it. Why did I have to drink last night? Damn good ass Wutaiian rice wine. That shit fucked me up hard.

Armand soon handed me a cup of coffee and I sipped it slowly, savoring the taste. The coffee was rich in flavor and very delicious. This guy could sure make a great cup of the coffee.

"So, Armand. What exactly occurred...last night? Was it last night? What time is it?" I asked

"It's nine in the morning." he said quietly.

He was acting oddly. Very quiet and he seemed really sad. I knew my situation was bad but damn. The guy looked like he had witnessed a massacre.

"Did I do something?" I hoped I hadn't done something stupid.

"No. We didn't get anything done. We need to discuss our plans because I have to checkout at noon."

I nodded in agreement as I sipped my wonderful coffee. "Yes we do need to plan ,but I need just one small favor at the moment."

"Sure, what?"

"I need to borrow your phone if you please."

"Well sure you can borrow it but it wont work. Phones don't work in this building unless you have some code or something."

I sighed in despair. All I wanted to do was let my Turks know that I was alive. I'd been here for what seemed like a week, but I didn't know how much time I had spent on the ride here. But now was not the time to be concerned about that. We had planning to do.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter was hard to write, but necessary for the premises of the story line. Poor lil' Tseng, I'm sorry. **


	20. Chapter 20

**Warnings: Incest, violence

* * *

**

**Wonderland Fallout**

**Tseng's POV**

Armand and I were currently sitting on the bed, sipping at our delicious coffees. He still had an uneasy look on his soft features, and it was starting to nerve me. Ever since I had awoken this morning to a splitting headache, he had seemed a little disturbed by something. I had deducted that his odd behavior had something to do with last night, but I could not for the life of me remember. My downfall had been the first drink I had before Armand had come to by room. It only took one glass to completely shatter my judgment, otherwise I wouldn't have kept on drinking.

His golden eyes that had once shone with such determination, were distraught. I know I had just met him, but I trusted him. I knew wasn't the type of man to go back on his word. How I knew this? I can't really explain it, but a good Turk always knows who they can and cannot trust.

"Armand, are you alright?" I asked him concerned. I needed him to be attentive.

He smiled at me and nodded his head. The effeminate man then grasped my hands and kissed my knuckles.

"Yes, dear." He looked up at me will a renewed twinkle in his eyes of summer.

My eye twitched. "Please stop treating me like a damsel." I said slightly annoyed. Although I was seeking his help, I did have my dignity.

"My sincerest apologies, Tseng. For you are far more lovely than any damsel in a storybook, though your situation is relatively the same." He said sarcastically, an amused smile following.

Me and my damaged dignity promptly shut the fuck up on that point. I smirked at his cleverness and took a brief sip of my coffee.

"So, you are quite fond of fairy tales?" I said, poking fun at him. He laughed and moved closer to me.

"Yes I am actually. I find them quite interesting." His eyes shone with humor and remembrance. "My favorite one was always Peter Pan. My....er father, would make up story adventures about him and the lost boys for me when I was a child."

I briefly wondered why he stumbled over the mentioning of his father. He had also avoided eye contact when he said it as well. How odd.

"Um...so, what was your favorite fairytale?" he said.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." I said without hesitation. He raised a questioning dark brow.

"Really? How come?"

I smirked and finished my coffee with a contented sigh before addressing him.

"I always found it quite fascinating that everything and everyone around Alice in Wonderland seemed so insane or odd, whilst she was virtually the only sane person there, supposedly. But what I've come to realize is that Alice was indeed the most insane person there. To imagine such a world and yet, be so detached as to not recognize her own images or thoughts her mind had created is truly in itself the definition of insanity, in my opinion that is. She is in a sense, quite like me."

"I don't understand." Armand said truthfully. "You're not insane?"

"I've been to wonderland, my wonderland."

Armand rose a skeptical brow. "Um, you sure you weren't like high or something?"

I laughed lightly. "No I wasn't high. I used to go to wonderland when I was kid, trying to escape from the ills of my life. Sometimes I would sleep to get there, or sometimes I would find myself there, not really know how I arrived but not really caring. As long as I wasn't in reality."

"What was it like?" he asked, wide eyes bright.

"Um...sort of like any little boy's fantasy. Very primitive, adventurous and fun."

"Do you go there now?"

"No not really. As an adult I've only been to wonderland maybe twice. I know how to now cope with my problems that as a child I could not."

"What made you go back as an adult though?"

I cleared my throat and ran my fingers through my hair, which needed to be cleaned again.

"When the man who had the most influence on me, who I had considered to be my father figure, died in front of my eyes. As soon as it had happened, I vividly remember all my emotions on the verge of overwhelming me. I could feel myself about to go into hysterics, when I suddenly blanked out and woke up in the Kingdom of Bluecat, the name of my world."

Armand looked at me dumbfounded. "Kingdom of Bluecat? What the hell?"

"Yeah keep in mind I was like fucking six when it was created." I retorted.

Armand took this all in and nodded his head.

"You're quite the interesting character, Tseng." he commented with a wide smile.

"Compared to the character's in my head, I'm actually rather boring."

"I don't think you're boring." He moved closer to me and unexpectedly wrapped his arms around me.

"Thanks." he said.

"Thanks? For what?" I asked humored.

"For sharing that with me. I'm glad you trust me enough to open up like that."

I laughed lightly and rubbed Armand's head. He really was a sweet guy. And to think I was going to try and control him for my own purposes. I realize I didn't need to do that. I stroked the gentleman's cheek as he rested his head on my shoulder. I don't think he fully comprehended what I had said, but that's alright, we weren't here to discuss my sanity, or lack thereof. As he leaned on me, he did seem to be deep in thought, as if trying to see if he could view his own Wonderland. I smirked in amusement and gave him a nudge.

"So, about the plan?" I said, quickly changing subjects. He snapped out of his daze and smiled at me with earnest. He kissed my cheek briefly.

"Yes the plan, let's get started on that." He moved to sit in front of me, having my full attention.

"First off, I need you to answer some questions to the the best of your ability in regards to this place." I said. There were some basic thing's I needed to know before I escaped.

He nodded his head in understanding.

"Alright, I need to know where this place is located, as in relation to the world."

Armand scratched his head. "Um...I don't know who to tell you this Tseng, but we're on a ship."

I couldn't even find the words to express my shock. I sat there stunned by what he had said, and then I was suddenly doubting his words. There's no way we could be on a ship. Where was the constant gently rocking? I'd been on ship more than enough times to know how it felt to be on one. No wonder Carous had said don't try and escape. It was a fucking boat, surrounded by ocean. It would not be an easy task to escape and survive even if you did manage to get off somehow.

Well...fuck me.

"That can't be. I don't feel like I'm on a ship, at all." I said straightforwardly.

"That's because the ship has been grounded and it will continue to be until one o'clock. From what I've heard from my friend, the ship grounds at a port and stays there for about a week. During this time, rich customers board and enjoy themselves. Then, after the week is over, the ship leaves the port and sets out on sea for another week. Some customers choose to stay for that week and enjoy the company of their whores. The the ship docks at another post within a week's distance. That's when the week traveled customers get off and travel back home, and new customers board for the week that the ship will be grounded."

I listened carefully to what he said, still a little in disbelief. "So I'm on a fucking boat? All this time..."

Armand reached out to touch my shoulder, rubbing it gently. "Hey, it's okay my dear. I told you I would get you out of here."

"I know I know, but still. The possibility I was on a boat didn't even cross my mind."

Why the hell would Pero Donte have a traveling whorehouse? What the fuck was that all about? This was surely alluding to my belief that this place as not only a whorehouse, but had another operation as well. I just didn't know what.

Then another thought crossed my mind that had my heart racing. My eyes widened and my mouth drew open.

"Armand, where is this ship currently docked at?" I asked anxiously.

"Um we're currently docked at a small port on the outskirts of Midgar."

I suddenly grasped his shoulders, almost painfully so. My heart was beating so fast because my adrenalin was released. We hadn't moved from the city. If I could somehow get out now then I could just return home. It was as simple as that.

"We're still in Midgar?" I asked, my voice shaky.

"Um yes, but not for long. Only till one remember? I have to checkout at noon, but I'm going to extend my stay for a week so I can be with you. We can figure out how to get you off this boat between then."

"No, why can't we get off now? How hard can it be?"

"I'm pretty sure you've seen those huge ass guards, we wouldn't be able to stop them. I honestly can't fight for shit. Also, you can't even go above deck now. Whores aren't allowed to be up top until after the boat is off shore. I'm sorry deary."

"We could if I had some weapons and bombs."

"Which is why we _**needed **_to plan last night so I could have already gotten the list of things you required. I don't know the first thing about bombs and weapons." he snapped at me, which I rightfully deserved.

"Listen, to me Armand. I have an idea. This is very important so I need you to listen carefully." I had been formulating a plan quickly ever since I learned that I was still located in Midgar. As much as I didn't want to reveal my actual occupation to him, my plan required it. The plan was to send him off into Midgar and get in contact with the Reno and Rude at the Shin-Ra company. It absolutely had to only be Reno and Rude he talked to. I would prefer none other than them to know of my current situation. I only hoped they were healed from their injuries by now.

"What I need you to do is..."

I was suddenly interrupted by the door being roughly opened, the back frame slamming against a wall. We both whipped around to see who it was. A guy with tousled curly blond locks and sharp green eyes stumbled into the room. His clothes were disheveled and hung loosely off his thin form. He was quite attractive, but I wasn't concerned with that. This man had interrupted our discussion. I raised a brow in question, though Armand raised his in recognition. He jumped up from the bed and raced over to the unsteady man.

"Zama, what are you doing here?"

The man stared at Armand with unfocused eyes. "Oh my god!" he said through a slur. He wrapped his arms around Armand's neck clumsily, his body slowly sinking with Armand desperately trying to pull the obviously tipsy man up. Why the hell was this man drunk? Wasn't it like ten in the morning? Also, what was up with this guys' name? How odd.

"You shouldn't be here Zama. I' m kinda busy at the moment."

The curly haired blond named Zama, turned his drunken gaze over to me and a wide smiled grace his face, revealing flawless teeth.

"Oh my, he is quite the prince." He giggled.

Prince? What the fuck was wrong with this man?

"Please," Armand said, "Go back to your room."

"Oh my gawd, he's so hucking Fot, Whoops! I mean fucking hot. Yup, that was it."

He winked and me and I scowled. I didn't have time for this.

"Hey baby!" he said, waving at me. God did I want to punch him.

"Armand, who is this man?" I asked his, though the other answered,

"I'm Zama. His friend for like forever."

Armand could no longer support his friend and he let him fall to the ground, hard. He didn't move. I didn't care.

"Enough of this. I have some very important directions for you." I spoke to the dark haired gentleman.

"I'm terribly sorry about this." He said.

"Never mind that, what I wanted to tell you is..."

Zama popped up like a fucking jack rabbit and startled the shit out of Armand. In my anger, I rose from the bed and charged his annoying friend. I pinned him against the wall, though he hadn't registered that fact until a second to late. My eyes were fierce and full of anger.

"No Tseng!" Armand called out.

His friend struggled against the strong force of my body, but he didn't seem fearful. He was probably to drunk to be afraid. Oddly enough, I didn't smell any alcohol on his breath. His lips curled up into a malicious grin.

"So we gonna fuck hot stuff or what."

He was testing my patience. I was tempted to strike him, make him silent. I stared into his green eyes and a wave of familiarity hit me. Now I had never seen this man before, but there was something familiar about those eyes. Something about those eyes that made me instantly hate him.

"Tseng please, let him go!" Armand pleaded.

I kept my gaze focused on the man I had pinned against the wall. Damn those eyes. I just wanted to beat the shit out of him and I didn't even know why. Zama suddenly grinned at me, with white teeth flashing. He smiled once again and whispered something to me that only I could hear because I was very close.

"Faire is about to make you his bitch." he said slyly. I only had a split second to take in what he said before Zama suddenly began screaming.

The noise alone made me released him and step back. He kept on screaming and I looked to Armand, but he obviously didn't know what was going on. His scream was so high pitched it was hurting my ears.

Then, he suddenly silenced himself and collapsed. Armand immediately rushed to his fallen friend and cradled his head. I honestly had no idea what was going on. It had all happened to fast.

Footsteps could be heard coming this way and I mentally punched myself. I had sworn that I wouldn't attack another customer with the knowledge of the consequences. I took a step back and apprehension graced my features.

"Tseng, what is going on!" Armand yelled, the pounding footsteps getting closer.

No. Not this time. I'm not going down with a fight! I quickly grabbed the the knife I had hidden under the pillow and rushed over to the closet where I had hidden the rest of the knives at. I stood my ground and readied my weapons.

Let them come, because I'm taking down as many as I can.

The first unfortunate guard to rush in was met by a blade right between the eyes. He suddenly stopped moving, though his body didn't fall just yet. The others rushed in with chains and restraints. I aimed all the throw-able knives at them with deadly accuracy. I threw them as fast as I could, making sure I aimed for the head. Blood spurted grotesquely from their heads as my blade pierced their skulls. I had launched at least six knives, all of them hitting their target. I had run out of small blades and had only a long dagger left. Three more men rushed in. One tripped over the dead body of a fallen guard and another knocked the down the first guard's body that had died standing up. They all halted their charge and ran back out.

I know I must have looked quite feral, but I was desperate. I was so close to home and yet these ingrates were keeping me from it. They were keeping me from my Turks! From my friends! From Reno! That one struck a cord. To think, Reno was so close and I had thought I was so far away from him all this time.

I heard more footsteps, much more than before. I readied my weapon and waited for them. But suddenly, the loud footsteps stopped. I was concerned but held my ground anyway. I tensed up when only one person entered the room. It was Faire. God did I hate him. He looked around at the dead bodies around him and then to Armand who was holding his friend's limp form. He then looked up to me and smiled.

I had a mind to throw my dagger at him.

"Hmm, this is gonna be hell to clean up." He winked at me and then glanced in Armand's direction. "Wouldn't you agree Zama?"

My brows drew close in confusion. Armand had the same look of surprise I had when his friend, Zama, opened his eyes. Armand gasped and drew back away from the man. I hadn't noticed it before, but the golden eyed gentleman had tear pouring from his eyes.

Zama stood up and dusted off his clothes. With a sway of his hips, he sauntered over to Faire and wrapped his arms around his neck. He pressed his lips against the others in a brief kiss. I scowled and held my blade firmly.

"Zama? What are you doing?" the tearful Armand asked.

"Faire is my brother." he said with a wide smile.

I knew I hated him for a reason.

"I know that but what is he doing here?" Armand asked. Obviously he had been out of the loop.

"Faire asked me this morning to stir up some trouble with him. I will do anything he asks of me, even at the cost of our friendship Armand. Sorry."

"Some friend you are." I hissed out.

"I am a good friend!" Zama yelled out. "But I'm an even better boyfriend." The curly haired blond kissed Faire's lips in a way one would kiss a lover.

"Zama, what are you doing! He's you're fucking brother!" Armand yelled disgusted.

"I know, but I still love him. He's my everything." Zama said dreamily. I was starting to feel sick.

Faire then turned a serious look on me and pulled out a gun. He aimed it at me and my heart raced. Was he going to shoot me? I kept my eyes locked onto the barrel of the gun. Watching his every movement.

"No!" Armand yelled.

"Don't worry, this gun isn't for him." he said with a wide smirk. Zama walked out momentarily before coming back in with Jiao. He was crying and trying to cover himself up, for he was naked. Zama shoved him into the room and pushed him towards me. His pretty features were twisted to that of complete fear.

Then, everything went in slow motion, though it happened so fast. It made for a horrible feeling. Jiao was stumbling over to me and I tossed my weapon to the side to catch him.

But I never did.

There was a gunshot.

A scream of pain.

The sound of a body falling.

Blood on my shirt.

My hands empty.

No Jiao.

Time returned to normal as I watched Jiao hit the ground. He lay convulsing on the floor. Blood pooled from his stomach. Almost robotic in my motions, I crouched down and knelt by his side. His skin was so pale now, his veins pulsating in the throes of death. I pressed my fingers against his neck. He had a faint but rapidly falling pulse.

Jiao. It can't end this way. You can't end this way.

I had only a few seconds to understand what had just happened before Faire approached. He aimed his gun at Jiao's head and looked me directly in the eyes.

"He only has a few minutes to live, but he can get help if you do what I tell you."

I couldn't think. Couldn't speak. My mind went to nothingness.

"Say you'll submit."

Tears of shock and pain were seeping from his eyes. Blood spilled over his lips and pooled onto the floor. I could see where the bullet had clearly entered his body and exited on the other side. The crimson liquid flowed out from the hole in his back and stomach, the vibrant color of it contrasting greatly with his pale skin.

"Say it or he's gonna die right here right now."

I can't do this. I'm a Turk. We never submit to the enemy's will.

"You're running out of time! He's gonna fucking shit himself and die because of you! Just fucking submit!" he yelled out.

I looked down at Jiao's dying form and shook my head. This was all my fault! He was dying because of a mistake I made. I touched his sweaty cheek gently and kissed it softly.

"Will you submit?" Faire asked, a wide devilish grin on his lips.

I would not let Jiao die like this, not because of what I've done. Veld always preached that as Turks we have to take responsibility for our mistakes, always. I had this code ingrained into everything aspect of my life and I wasn't about to abandon it now. This was my mistake. I would suffer for it, as any good Turk would.

"Yes. I'll submit." I said through gritted teeth.

Faire snapped his fingers and a medical group rushed in and attended to Jiao. They completely stepped over and ignored the other piles of death bodies in the room. I was only slightly relieved when they rushed Jiao's body out. I hoped he would be okay, he had lost so much blood.

The two blond lovers grinned and me before kissing each other passionately. "Good boy." Faire said to me, though it came out muffled because his tongue was in his brother's mouth.

Armand, who had stood unmoving for the past several minutes, finally started to walk slowly to his friend. He pulled his shirt and Zama pulled away from Faire to address the gentleman.

"I don't understand. I don't understand any of this! Why is your brother here? Why is he shooting people?" then he looked to me. "How did you kill all these people like that?"

Faire scowled. "Shut the hell up Armand. You were always so annoying."

"Is that what you think Zama?" Armand said sadly.

"Of course not." he said with a smile. "But if my brother say's you're annoying than you just might be. He's always right."

I saw the pained look on Armand's face and it did not sit well with me. They both would pay for hurting him so.

Faire then kissed his brainwashed brother and turned to leave with his arm wrapped around Zama's waist. They made to kiss again, their tongues darting out to taste each others mouths. But their lips never met. Instead of the pleasure they were about to experience, pain filled both their usually haughty faces. For I had thrown the last blade I had at them and it pierced the arm Faire had wrapped around Zama's waist. The blade went through his arm and also stabbed Zama in the back. They were virtually pinned together with by the blade. A sadistic glee welled up in me as I watched the brothers bleed. Zama was crying now and Faire glared at me as best he could through the pain. The the pained blond spoke, lips practically trembling in rage.

"I can guarantee you that this will be the biggest regret of your life."

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope this chapter didn't confuse you. At least now you know that the title of this story wasn't random, lol.**

**A/N to Arlene: Yes I would gladly accept that offer! Please contact click on my profile to find my email address! Thank you!**


	21. Chapter 21

**So I finally have someone who has volunteered their time to look over my chapters! Huzzah! Arlene you're so awesome, thanks for everything :). And thanks to my reviewers and readers for comments and hits!  
**

* * *

**Wonderland Fallout**

**Reno's POV  
**

It was quite tense between Rude and I this week. He wouldn't talk to me or even look me in the eye. Imagine it, Rude giving me the silent treatment! It was like he didn't even acknowledge my existence. Ever since that night several days ago, he hasn't said a word to me. I sat at my desk in our shared office with my feet propped as I casually twirled my EMR around with my fingers. Rude was seated at another desk across from mine but it wasn't like that mattered. He wasn't going to speak to me anyway.

There was a knock on the door before Cissnei entered, her immaculate suit sharp and professional as always. She looked better than she had in days, though her expression was grim.

"The president wants to see us. All of us." She said lowly.

I sat up in my seat and regarded her confusedly. "Really? Like...all of us?"

"Yeah. He's even called some us back from missions."

Whoa. This was serious. I glanced at Rude, who of course didn't acknowledge me. He looked at Cissnei with indifference, but I knew he was trying to figure out the reason why the president had requested us. I had a vague idea it had something to do with me not taking the position of commander.

"We should go." The Auburn haired Turk prompted. I stopped spinning my EMR and held it on my shoulder in my typical fashion. With a wide yawn, I rose up from my comfortable office chair and followed close behind her. Rude walked behind me and I slowed my pace to match his.

"Yo homeboy, what do ya think this is all about?" I asked, nudging him in the arm.

The somber man ignored me, his shaded eyes remained forward as if I hadn't even spoken. I sighed and came up beside Cissnei. She looked at Rude who moved ahead of us, then at me.

'"Is everything alright between you two?" She asked me, her thin brow rising slightly.

"Um...we just had a disagreement." I lied. Judging by the look on her face she didn't believe me and didn't want to pressure me into telling. Unlike me, she wasn't one to pry into other people lives.

We entered the meeting room and I took a seat between Rude and another Turk who went by the nickname Two Guns. He nodded in acknowledgment to me and I smirked. Two Guns most definitely lived up to his name. I'd never seen someone draw a gun as fast as he could. He was probably one of the fastest shooters in the Turks...though I was fastest over all when it came to speed.

Most of the Turks nodded or saluted to me as they entered the room. I was the highest ranking among them since Tseng was still missing.I guess they were just showing their respects. Rufus walked in and shot me a sidelong glance. He had a slightly apprehensive look on his face as he took a seat at the end of the table. He crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair. His worried expression remained and it was making me nervous. He knew something was up, but just like us, he had no idea what.

We would soon find out. President Shinra walked in with another man behind him. The man was fat to say the least. He had a long, dark scruffy looking beard and wore a green military uniform decorated with orderly gold stood at the front next the chubby President. Once the President was situated at the end of the table, we all stood up simultaneously and saluted him, as was customary. He nodded his head and we all took our seats.

"As you're all very well aware, your leader, Tseng Liang has been MIA for about two weeks now. Although we have Turks still looking for him, he has not been found yet and the Turks are in desperate need of a leader."

He cast his cold blue eyes at me. "Since Reno has so graciously refused to take over command, I have decided to give the job to this man."

"What!?" Rufus yelled angrily before I could express my own disapproval.

"This is your new Commander, Heidegger."

Rufus and I immediately stood up from our seats. This was totally unacceptable! Just because I wouldn't take the job didn't mean he had to give it away! I was so angry I could feel heat rising to my head. The Turks around us mumbled sounds of protest as well. Rufus' fists were clenching tightly by his side. I don't think I've ever seen him so angry.

"You...you can't do this! You cannot do this!" the infuriated blond yelled at his father. I was rather surprised to see him actually talk back to his father. He had never done so before but I guess when it came to the man he loved, he would do anything.

President Shinra's brows furrowed in anger at his son."I can do what I damn well please. It's my company."

"You can't give this man Tseng's position. He's still alive!" he snapped.

"He isn't here now is he?" His father yelled back at him.

"He'll be back soon enough once Reno and Rude continue their rescue mission."

He shook his head."Heidegger is the new Commander" Then he turned to me. "And you are the..."

The Presidentwas suddenly cut off by the intrusion of several SOLDIERs. They came in and stood at attention before the President. Just about everyone was looking rather confused. What was going on?

A SOLDIER 2nd Class rushed to the president's side and spoke into the man's ear. The President listened intently and nodded his head. Once the message was conveyed, the SOLDIER handed him several pieces of paper. He then stood at attention with the others. The president scowled and looked at us.

"Meeting over and new meeting instated." he said , sounding quite annoyed.

He snatched the papers up and signaled for his son to come forward. Rufus complied and the President handed him the papers.

"Read." came his command.

Rufus cleared his throat and read the report.

...

A distress call From the Mayor of Costa Del Sol:

At an unknown time last night, a large vessel holding over two hundred passengers exploded. The blast could be heard and felt in our city, though we didn't know what it was at the time. Scouts were to be sent out this morning and investigate but there was no need. Bodies, countless bodies were floating on various chunks of debris. Some alive, most dead. We sent out as many people as we could to help save the wounded and bring in the dead.

From a wounded passenger, we recollected his events :

"I'd been dining with a rather fair and soft spoken rent boy when I heard the sharp piercing sound of gunshots. The loud patter of footsteps paraded at the far end of the ship and I could barely make out the distorted figure of a man. My lovely escort grew nervous and grasped my suit jacket tightly, pleading that we should leave. But I was so enthralled by the scene I couldn't look away, for I'd never seen someone run that fast before in all my years of living. The person ran across the expanse of the deck at an impeccable speed, and I was quite shocked to see that he was holding a body over his shoulder, though it seemed the weight hadn't hindered him in the least. As he drew closer, I saw that he was only lad of about twenty or so; however, his eyes were that of man nearly twice his age. He fired his weapon with frighteningly direct accuracy, as not a passenger among us was shot. His intended targets were the security force of the ship who chased after him. To my surprise, he stopped running and stood not but a few feet in front of me. He tossed the body over the side of the railing and my rent boy screamed. At that, I grabbed my escort and we ran back to our quarters. I'd not been in my room for more than ten minutes when a deafening explosion knocked me from my feet."

Another eyewitness who was also on deck, said he saw the man disappear and then return with another person in his arm. He also tossed this unknown man over the side of the boat. The eyewitness then goes on to say that the man tried to jump after he had tossed the other, but a group of guards seized him. He then states in these exact words, "The young man fought to break free of the guards with almost inhuman strength. He screamed a noise something terrible before he started to swing his fists and kick his legs. Wherever his fists landed, bones were shattered. His fingers dug into the eyes of those around him, blood curling screams wailed from the injured men. The young man broke free of them all and made to flee when another man came out and shot him."

"But the man did not fall. Instead, he pulled out a remote device and smiled something evil. There was an exchange between them briefly before the young man pressed the button. The ship rocked when a explosion went off on deck and somewhere else on the ship. It was effective and appeared to be what the man needed for as a distraction. But then something happened that I don't think even the young fellow understood. The explosions kept erupting and soon the boat was rocking violently and flames erupted from all around. I was trying to get to an escape boat but they were all on fire. I was about to jump off the side when I caught a glimpse of the young man. He was very still, and laid unmoving on the side of the deck. Then I jumped."

This is all the information we have been able to gather at the moment. I request aid from The Shin-Ra company in medical materia and supplies. This matter with the ship is a problem as well, for we found the debris of Shin-Ra goods and weaponry washed up on the shore. Please send aid as quickly as possible.

…

Rufus placed the papers down and looked at his father. The chubby blond president had a thoughtful look on his face as he stood silently. I on the other hand was quite shaken by the report. How bizarre it sounded. What was that crazy guy doing? Tossing people over the boat and then blowing it he not care that people would die? Did he have no feelings at all? All those people were either dead or wounded because of his selfishness. Had he been thinking at all? Maybe the man had been insane.

"Agent Cissnei," the President began. "You and your current operatives will continue the investigation of the bombing that occurred here in Midgar. Reno, Rude, you two are to go to Costa Del Sol with SOLDIER. There you will lead the investigation of the ship explosion."

I shook my head. "I can't do that, Sir. I'm already on a case.**." **I didn't want to be sent to Costa. I needed to be here to meet with the guy who had bought Tseng.

The president gritted his teeth. "You will go there."

"But my mission..."

"No."

I gritted my teeth and looked to Rufus. He had the same angry expression I had as he looked upon his father.

"Reno will continue his mission." he said defiantly. His tone was so sharp and demanding it sent shivers up my spine. When had the kid learned to talk like that?

Needless to say the President was not amused. His face turned beet red as he looked at Rufus with fury.

"He will not. This is my company, these are my Turks! You have no say in this."

"He will stay here."

"Say that one more time boy..."

Rufus stood his ground and looked his father straight in the eye. All of us, especially me, were quite shocked by his forwardness and outright defiance against his father.

"He will..." was all he got out before the President brought his hand back. He swung at the young blond and my heart bounded. But to my surprise, Rufus not only saw the punch coming, he stopped it and held his father's fist firmly. Most of us were out of our seats now. I stood shocked as Rufus knocked his hand away and smirked.

"Tseng trained me." he said, stepping closer to his father. "He trained me in advance combat and made me workout quite regularly. I am not some weak boy who would be struck down by his ageing father."

The President scowled and went for his son again. Then I saw the most amazing thing I'd even seen in all my years of working here.

Rufus made a fist, cocked his arm back, and straight decked his father in the face. It was fucking fantastic.

The president stumbled back, holding his cheek where his son had struck him. His face was redder that I'd ever seen before. He was absolutely furious and it made me glad to see the pompous man stood up by his son. But as glad as I was to see it, I knew Rufus was in deep shit.

The president looked to the SOLDIERs in the room and pointed to Rufus.

"Place him under arrest! Right now!" he yelled.

I looked frantically at Rufus who hadn't take his eyes off of his father. How had it come to this? I watched as the men grabbed Rufus's shoulders and began to haul him away. Not thinking, I jumped onto the table and ran across it to reach Rufus. I bounded off and grabbed him away from the SOLDIERs.

"Rufus, listen to me." I said hurriedly. I knew my time was limited because there was no way in hell I could take on mako enhanced SOLDIERs.

"I promise you I'll find him." I said softly.

He nodded his head before the SOLDIERs took him away. I shot a glare at Rufus' so called father. How could he have his own son arrested? I wanted to strike him as Rufus had but I held back. He looked around the table at us.

"Well, you have your orders. Get going!"

The Turks dispersed and exited quietly. I walked out with Rude who seemed just as upset as I was, though he hid it better.

"This fucking sucks!" I bit out. "Because of some crazy fucked up guy with a knack for blowing shit up, we have to put our search on hold! Fuck!"

Rude shrugged his shoulders and walked away. Oh yeah, he was still fucking mad at me. I rushed to his side and tried to keep up with his fast pace.

"Look Rude, I don't know why you're still angry!"

He didn't so much as give me sideways glance. I grew angrier and suddenly punched him in his arm. It wasn't a hard punch, but the way he reacted you would have thought I'd punched the shit out of him. He grabbed me by my suit jacket and hoisted me up as if I were a rag doll. He slammed me into the nearest wall and I squirmed in his hold. He showed no emotion on his face and he didn't even seem mad. But then I took off his shades and looked into his eyes.

So many unexpressed emotions illuminated from those eyes that could hide nothing. Anger, rage...hurt. I sensed all this from him. I also noticed he had dark circles around his eyes. The whites of his eyes were slightly red.

"I can't sleep."

It was the first thing he'd said to me ever since that night with Faire. I tried to break free of his hold but he held me firm.

"I see him raping you when I dream." he admitted. My eyes went wide at that. Had Rude really been that affected by the unfortunate event? I guess this was the answer to my own question. He slowly put me back down and grabbed his glasses from my hands. He placed them onto his face and continued to walk away as if nothing had happened.

I caught up with him and placed a hand onto his shoulder. "I'm sorry Rude. I didn't mean ta hurt ya."

Rude shook his head. "No. I'm the one who should be sorry**...**who is sorry. I should have shot that fucker's brains out whether you asked me to or not."

Suddenly it clicked. Rude wasn't mad at me, he was mad at himself for not killing Faire. Knowing Rude, I wouldn't be able to convince him it wasn't his fault, so I would have to wait it out and talk to him about it at another date. For now, I just placed my hand on his strong shoulder in comfort.

We continued to walk down the hall to the SOLDIER's HQ. Every time we had to go on a mission with SOLDIER, we had to go see the SOLDIER Director. We entered his ridiculously large office and saw several SOLDIER 3rd classes all lined up in perfect formation. The Director, Lazard…something, was giving out orders to the men in front of him. I shuffled along beside the blond man in the sharp pinstriped suit. I had that "I really don't want to be here look on my face" as I stood next to Lazard.

The Director then turned to us and nodded. "Reno and Rude are in charge and you are to give them same respect as you would give to a commanding SOLDIER."

I scanned over the faces who regarded us with slight animosity. It was common knowledge that SOLDIER hated the Turks. They regarded us as Shinra's special team of murdering dogs, a force who's methods were not admirable and a group of killers that had no honor. Fuck them. They were just jealous because our salary was five times as much as much as theirs. Hell, Tseng was being paid about the same as the Great General himself. Personally, I had no ill toward SOLDIER, though they sometimes pissed me off with the whole "I wanna a hero, just like Sephiroth" bullshit.

I sighed as Lazard finished giving his instructions and ordered them to go the hangar and prepare to leave. They all saluted before dispersing, leaving Rude and I with Lazard. The sharply dressed man smiled at us as he took a seat at his desk.

"Here is your mission assignment." he said handing out a file.

I took it from his hands and skimmed through the pages. Too many words I didn't feel like reading. Shit, I didn't even feel like going on this fucking mission. Rude and I had been so close to finding the location of our boss. I sighed once again and handed the file to Rude. We walked of his office and headed for the Turk's floor. We had already packed clothes and weapons for sudden missions such as this. Once we had retrieved our things, we went to the hangar were the SOLDIERs were already lined up with their things and weapons.

"Get in the fucking plane." I ordered, my tone bitter.

They did as was told and boarded the plane in an orderly manner**. **Rude and I stood outside the plane momentarily, neither of us really wanting to get aboard it. I stared off into the distance contemplating. So close. We were so close to finding him. All we needed to do was meet this guy and force him to tell us where Tseng was. It was so simple and yet, we had this to worry about. Fuck that guy who blew up a ship, all I wanted to do was bring Tseng back, but it seemed as if everything was working against me.

I know those people needed our help but so did Tseng. He was trapped in some fucking prison for whores and he needed us. I looked at the plane that would take us overseas and then I looked at the exit that would take me to Tseng. It was a no brainer. I looked at Rude who was staring at me intensely through dark lenses. He knew what I was about to do, the question was, would he go with me?

We stared at each other for a minute before Rude nodded his head. I smiled at him and looked upon him with admiration.

Then we ran. I ran as fast as I could to get away from this place. We ran away from the loading area and headed back into the building. From their we picked up our pace and jetted across the first level. We burst through the front doors, startling the people who were coming in, but we didn't stop. We kept running until we were in the parking lot. We didn't have any time to spare. The SOLDIERs were probably aware of our absence, hell they probably saw us run away.

We bounded for a random car and I broke the window with my EMR. There was no way we could take a vehicle from the Turk parking grounds. Those cars all had trackers in them. And considering we both didn't actually own a car because they were always provided one for us, we had to jack a vehicle. I unlocked the door and we both slipped into the car. I made quick work of the wires and used the blade I kept under the bottom of my shoe to cut and rearrange wires. I think I broke my own record of one minute thirty seconds of wiring a car. I had the thing up and running in a minute. Thank you slum jacking skills.

I turned on the engine and buckled up. It was going to be a crazy ride. I backed out and sped up out of the parking lot. I turned onto the main road and accelerated. We zoomed down the streets without any regards to traffic lights, a wide grin graced my face, though Rude's expression remained our phones rang simultaneously. Yup, they knew we had gone AWOL. We were so fucked if we got caught.

Two black vehicles that I instantly recognized as Turk property, were enclosing on us. So the big man had sent Turks to catch a Turk. I smiled and sped up faster. My phone rang again and I didn't answer it. One of the vehicles pulled up next to us, and rolled down the window. I did the same and saw it was Cissnei in the passenger side with the female Turk named Gun driving. She didn't look angry, just worried.

"What the hell are you doing!" She yelled across.

"We're continuing our fucking mission! Fuck Shinra!" I yelled back.

"Reno I know you want to bring Tseng back, we all do, but you can't do this! You have to go back!"

"Hell to the no!" I snapped.

"Reno, you're going to go to prison if we don't bring you back!" Then her voice was full of emotion and she looked at me with teary eyes. "I can't let that happen! I'm so sorry Reno but we have to stop you!"

She rolled up the window and the black vehicle was suddenly coming closer. They were tying to ram us! I increased my speed and kept my eyes focused. Rude was looking back to see what they were doing but then he whipped his head back and gulped.

"Fucking Shotgun is driving the other vehicle." He said with a hint a nervousness.

"Oh shit!" I hissed out. I glanced back quickly to catch a glimpse of long dark hair and a cocky grin. Shotgun was probably the most sadistic Turk out of us all, and that was really saying something. She loved her job just a little too much and she could be quite ruthless when she wanted to. But right now it seemed as if she were having the time of her life. I saw her accelerate up and I swore again. She pulled up on Rude's side and without warning, slammed into us and caused me swerve.

"Crazy bitch!" I yelled as I regained control of the car.

Just then, the other black vehicle came up on my side and we were sandwiched between the two cars. I knew they were trying to lock me in and I grinned. They were good, I'll give them that. But I didn't have the second in command title for nothing. Shotgun rammed into me again and I gritted my teeth as I was pushed up against the other car. I gripped the steering wheel and turned the wheel to break free of their trap. She swerved a bit but soon regained control and sped up.

They trapped me again and they both tried to ram me from both sides. I timed their actions perfectly and slammed on the break. They rammed into each other and the sound of metal hitting metal reverberated. I grinned and stepped on the gas. I zoomed past them with a few seconds head start before they were right behind me. We were coming up to a more busy part of the road and things were about to get tricky. I zoomed through and intersection, barely missing being hit by the skim of the muffler.

The dented black vehicles caught up with us rather quickly, considering we were in someone's piece of shit car and they were in newer cars. The road was two lanes two lanes going one way, which allowed for Shotgun to pull up beside me, while Gun was closely behind me. The dark haired woman slammed into me from the side, whilst practically broke my neck with the force she rammed into the back of our car. The pressure coming from all sides was intense and the sheer power of the cars around me was ridiculous. I glanced at Rude, who was looking through the window at the crazed Shotgun.

"Um...you have a plan to get us out of this?" he asked evenly.

I gripped the steering wheel as tight as I could and gritted my teeth. "Hold on Rude!" I yelled and I began to turn the wheel. The car was starting to turn into the one Shotgun was in. I turned the wheel with all my night until I started to feel the car making progress and pushing off the wall. I turned the wheel and then hit the brake. The force at which the car had stopped, mixed with the turning motion of the wheels, gave me enough power to start spinning. The centripetal force sent the our car slamming in a circular motion against Shotgun. Her car spun around next to ours at a violent speed. Suddenly I braked once again the car struggled to stop. I had to ease up on the force at which I was stepping on the break, otherwise the car could tip over.

But it didn't and the car came to a stop whilst Shot gun's car spun out of control in the other direction. Her car slammed into the vehicle with Gun and Cissnei in it. They collided and their cars stopped. I looked back at them to make sure they were okay and then smiled once I saw Shotgun crawl out of the window of her car and start yelling profanities. Then she pulled out a "shotgun" and started shooting. I stepped on the accelerator and drove away from them.

I laughed and whooped like a maniac as we drove away, her form fading off into the distance.

"Hells yeah, Rude!" I cheered.

The man just pushed his glasses up and sighed. "Don't celebrate just yet."

"What?" I said in confusion. But then I saw what he was referring to, for just up ahead of the road were the other Turks. They had the road blocked off with their cars. I smirked as I saw Rod, Two Guns and Katana all standing with their weapons out. I knew they weren't trying to kill us but they were still cautious. I smirked and a laugh erupted from my throat.

Rude looked at me as if I were crazy, and I might very well had been considering what I was about to do. I sped up again, but instead of running into their trap I turned and drove across the median and onto oncoming traffic. It was the most intense adrenaline rushed feeling I've had in a very long time. I saw the cars coming right for me, knowing that if one hit me I could loose my life and so could Rude. His life was in my hands now and I would see to it that we both lived.

With extreme concentration and a lot of luck, we managed to dodge the oncoming cars and made it all the way to the train station. The side road for vehicles was still under construction from when the bomb had hit it. The train was also out of commission but I had another idea that would take us down to the Slum world underneath.

I slowed down to a stop in front of a construction zone. I turned off the vehicle, though I still felt like I was moving. We exited the car on unsteady legs. My body was still in adrenaline mode even though I wasn't moving. I sat down on the ground until my heart rate returned to normal. We couldn't linger for to long, lest the Turks figure out our whereabouts. I glanced at Rude who had taken off his shades and was massaging the bridge of his nose.

"You alright there big guy?" I asked through heavy breaths.

"I'm...alive." Is all he could say as he placed his shades back on with an unsteady hand.

I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. I stood up crossed my arms with a sly grin on my face. I nudged Rude playfully in the side before placing my arm up onto his shoulder and leaned up against his solid form.

"You know, all this adrenaline makes me wanna have sex." Just as I said it, Rude stepped away from me and I almost fell from the loss of my support.

"Aw come on Rude." I said playfully. "Tell me you don't feel like having a celebratory fuck! I feel so invigorated right now!" I yelled out, raising my fist up to the heavens.

"As long as it isn't with me." he said cautiously, still standing away from me.

"Well if we get Tseng back you won't have to worry about that." I said through an amorous grin. Rude shook his head and sighed.

"I don't even want to know what you're implying."

We started to walk over to the construction zone as we chatted.

"Oh you know what I'm implying." I said slyly. "When we get Tseng back, I'ma just..." I stopped walking and started doing a crude pelvic thrust to emphasize my intentions. My thrusting came to a stop when Rude popped me in the back of the head.

"Ow!"I groaned out rubbing my sore head.

We continued on until we were right in front of the road. It was nothing but a frame and there was no real road so to speak. The long metal framework led all the down to the slums in a spiral motion. It was a long way down if we fell from this height.

I gulped and was suddenly cold. My adrenaline had subsided and now the cold winter air was affecting me. I wrapped my arms around myself and rubbed my arms to keep them warm. We had to somehow get down there.

"Hey Rude, you got any summon materia on ya?" I asked. I had an idea, but I had not clue if it was going to work.

"Yes?" he said with apprehension on his tone.

"What kind?"

"Choco/Mog level 1, and Bahamut level 2. Why?"

"I say we summon that dragon and ride that bitch all the way down!"

"They would find us if we used a summon. Also, I don't think the King of Dragons would like it if we called him to give us a piggy back ride."

I sighed and pouted my lip. Leave it to Rude to rationalize and ruin my fun. I looked down at the spiraling frame and groaned.

"Looks like were gonna have to walk down then." I reluctantly said. It was going to take us awhile to make it to the bottom. I stepped onto the thick steel rail frame and began to make my way down.


	22. Chapter 22

**Thanks again Arlene for reading over and making wonderful suggestions as always! You're amazing. **

**Thanks also to my readers and reviewers! Your comments are always great. This chapter was fun to write, hope you enjoy it.  


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**Wonderland Fallout **

Reno's POV

We were very cautious as we walked down the frame. The steel metal framework coiled around the core of Midgar like a spiraling staircase, only difference is there was no railing so if we fell, it was a two mile drop.

Because the frame did wind down, it would be about three and a half mile walk. That wasn't bad, but we couldn't go as fast as we wanted due to the weather and the constant fear of falling. So we walked at a leisurely pace, Rude trailing a few feet behind me.

Since he wasn't much of a talker, we walked in silence which was almost maddening to me, for I absolutely hated silence. I didn't have my mp3 so I couldn't listen to any music. This left me to my own methods of entertaining myself in order to break the quiet.

"You ain't gotta say too much from the look in your eyes I can tell you wanna fuck!" I sung the words out loud, loud enough for Rude to hear. "And you ain't gotta call me…OW!" I cried out when I felt the sting of an icy cold snowball collide with the back of my head. I whipped around angrily at the bald man behind me. He had another large snowball ready, the corners of his mouth quirked up in a semi grin.

"The hell you do that for?" I yelled as I rubbed the back of my head.

"Sing again and I'll throw this so hard you'll be rendered unconscious." He said evenly.

I laughed. "How can a damn snowball knock me out?" I questioned sarcastically, an amused grin on my lips.

"With the right amount of force I can. Also, there's and chunk of solid ice lodged inside."

My eye twitched. "Aw come on Rude, you ain't really gonna hit me with that…right buddy?" I asked a little apprehensive. "I mean, if you did then you would have to carry my unconscious body all the way down."

"A small price to pay for your silence."

I sighed in acceptance and continued on with my lips pressed closed in annoyance. Stupid Rude, it's not my fault he doesn't appreciate the classics. I shot him an exaggerated look of disgust over my shoulder, though he wasn't bothered in the slightest.

And again, it was silent. Once again this left me trying to keep myself entertained. Obviously singing was out, so what else was there? I fumbled around in my pockets, messing with items inside. I felt a lighter, a small utility knife, lint, a button and a…hmm? My fingers grazed an object I didn't recognize. Curious, I pulled it out and held it up to my face. A smooth multicolored stone? What the hell was this doing in my pocket? I ran my thumb and index finger over the smooth object, hoping to jog by memory of where I could have picked up such an unusual object. I chewed my lip in thought as I pondered.

Aha! I remember now! This was a stone from a small glass vase that had been on Tseng's desk. I wonder how it got in here?

….

_**Two and a half weeks ago…**_

I knocked on the door of my boss' with great vigor. I didn't get a response so I pounded on the door with my fist. Again I received no response, so I just invited myself in. The smell of French Vanilla coffee flooded my nostrils, a favorite of his. The office was neat and tidy, with a wall length bookshelf on the right. Tseng was typing away at his desktop, the glow of the screen illuminated his gorgeous face. A smirk graced my lips as I sauntered over to a dark leather chair positioned across from his desk. He didn't look at me as I plopped down in the seat and released a rather loud yawn. I wasn't tired, just bored. And messing with Tseng was a great cure for boredom.

"Yo bossman, ya heard me knocking didn't you?"I questioned as I twirled my EMR around.

"How could I have not." He said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Well if ya heard me, then why didn't you answer?"

"I knew it was you, and I knew you would come in whether I answered or not." He said without lifting his eyes from the screen.

"Oh." I leaned forward so that my elbows rested on his pristine desk. I stared at him with unabashed admiration and attraction. He was just so beautiful. I would give just about anything to be able to run my fingers through that dark silky mane right now. His full, well formed lips were just begging to be kissed, teased, licked, nipped….

"Could you stop that?" Tseng snapped, ripping me from my little fantasy. I regarded him with an amused smirk.

"Stop what?" I said coyly while moving closer.

"Looking at me like that. It makes me uncomfortable." He said straightforwardly, his hand rose up to loosen his tie a bit.

"And why would it make you uncomfortable?" I said, my tone sly and suggestive. This time he did look at me. He stopped typing and leaned back in his seat. His sienna brown eyes locked onto my aquamarine ones. His gaze was quite intense, and he did not blink for several long moments.I raised a brow in confusion but his stare did not relent. I made an attempt to hold his gaze but I couldn't compete with their sharp intensity. I gulped and begin fidgeting with my fingers and cast my eyes downward to avoid his glare, but I could still feel his heated stare on me. I felt a nervous heat rise up behind my ears.

"What the hell, Tseng. You're creeping me out." I said nervously. Tseng softened his gaze and a light smile formed on his lips.

"See, it makes you uncomfortable as well."

I snickered and started to toy with a small vase full of various colored stones that was on his desk. I picked up a smooth rainbow colored stone and raised a questioning brow at him.

"Interesting color choice you have here, boss." I said slyly, holding up the multicolored stone. His dark eyes held a glint of playfulness as he regarded the polished stone.

"Is there any particular reason you're here?" he asked, returning back to his work.

"Just bored." I said, tossing the stone up and down.

"Maybe you should try working, you know, something you're supposed to be doing right now?" he jested. I leaned further onto the desk and pressed the rainbow colored stone to my lips, the tip of my tongue flicked briefly over the rounded tip.

"I'd rather be right here with you boss-man, you're all the entertainment I need." I said, my tone carrying hints of sensuality. My eyes locked onto his form and I swear I saw the faintest twinge of pink flush onto his cheeks. He cleared his throat and adjusted his tie once more.

"Get out, Reno." He ordered, though his tone wasn't harsh. I stood up with another yawn and inconspicuously slipped the stone into my pocket, thinking he hadn't seen me. I was just about halfway out the door when Tseng spoke.

"You can keep the stone, little thief." He said without looking up from his computer, the glow of the screen illuminated the humor in his eyes. I smiled before shutting the door softly behind me, my fingers rubbing over the smooth expanse of the rainbow colored stone in my pocket.

….

A faint smile graced my face at the memory. God how I missed him. A memory alone would not suffice his absence, though it did help. A memory could not aid in the tangible things I remembered about him. The smell of sweet French Vanilla coffee that always enveloped his office. The light fragrance of the cologne he wore that always seemed to stir my loins whenever I was close enough to smell it.

I missed the way his lips would curl up into a faint smirk whenever I said or did something funny and he didn't want to laugh to remain professional. His voice, so smooth and mellow, though light. His suit was always orderly and primped to perfection. I missed teasing him on the casual Fridays we had once a month, because Tseng's interpretation of casual Friday was a suit without a tie.

He was quite an enigma, that man. Tseng had a few quirks about him that amused me to no end. Such as he was a very talented artist, though he drew the most strangest of things. During meetings, he would sketch a lot and it was generally the same strange, but interesting characters he's been drawing ever since I met him, although they have changed in appearance, they still remained these warrior like youths with animalistic characteristics. He could also sing very well, but I never actually got to hear a full chorus, just parts when I managed to catch him in the break room when he thought no one was around, or in his office when I came in unannounced. He held a certain neurotic-ism when it came to tidiness; he was always brushing invisible dust from his suit or cleaning his already spotless desk.

To further his mystery, most of the Turk's and I really had no background information on him. He claimed Wutaiian descent, but it was quite obvious he was only part or half at the most. The bindi he wore in the middle of his forehead was not a trait of Wutai custom, so I had no idea what it meant. I had spread a rumor he was in a cult once, needless to say that did not fly over to well with him and I was forced to renounce the claim to each person individually. I made a bet with Rude once about whether or not his bindi was permanent. Rude said it was and I was determined to prove him wrong. So one day I pretended to trip as I passed him and he grasped my shoulders to steady me. Since we were so close in range, I had decided to make my move in regards to the bet. With rapid fast movements, I licked my thumb and pressed it to the center of his forehead and rubbed it. Tseng beat the shit out of me that day, but I came away with the knowledge of the gods. His bindi was not permanent. And though I won the bet, Tseng had filed a complaint against me, to which I was then made to write out an apology to him.

But it was all his mannerisms, quirks and secrecy that made me love him even more. I was head over heels for the guy, but in retrospect, I had no idea how he felt about me. I knew he cared about me as a friend, Maybe even a close friend…but as anything more, I was not sure. He never acted on my advances and often seemed to find them annoying. But I was not deterred by his disinterest. I was quite confident that one day I'd be able to tell him how I felt, I just hoped he felt remotely the same way.

The wind had picked upby the time we reached the end of the steel road. It had taken us a little over an hour to reach the bottom of the plate and I was chilled to the bone. My cheeks, nose and ears were all burning red. We were in the sector six slums, where we were supposed to find Maha's Linen and get more information on Tseng's whereabouts. The man we were looking for wouldn't be here until Saturday night, so we needed to find a place to stay until then.

"Eh, Rude," I turned to the tall figure walking up beside me. "You got any cash on ya?"

In order to off Shin-Ra's radar, we needed to withhold from using and credit cards that could be tracked. Paying in cash would be the best option.

"If you're thinking about staying in an inn, you might was to rethink that." He said evenly.

"What?" I said confused. We had to stay somewhere until tomorrow night. It was very likely that the other Turks could be looking for us still and we needed to hide out until then.

"Residing in an inn would be the first place they'd look." He said logically. I made a noise of frustration in the back of my throat. He was right. We couldn't possibly stay in an Inn. There weren't that many here in the first place so it would be relatively easy for them to find us that way.

"Well, where do we stay then smart guy?" I said sounding always had to dismiss my ideas with his logic. He didn't answer my question, and stood silently beside me. I sighed and scratched my head in thought. I knew a few people around here, but they would rat us out without a second thought for a few bucks. Shit. I had a place in mind but I really didn't want to go there. If anything it was last resort.

"Um…we could just bar hop till the next morning and sit around in diners until the designated time?" I suggested, but Rude shook his head.

"We'd just be leaving a trail for the other Turk's." he refuted.

"Damnit Rude!" I scowled. He was leaving us with very few options. "Okay since you don't like my idea, how about you come up with one?" I snapped. All he'd been doing was dismissing my ideas, he wasn't actually helping to solve the problem.

"You know where we could stay." He said in a knowing tone. I groaned in annoyance and rapidly shook my head.

"No way in hell." I said firmly.

"It's the only available option. They wouldn't think to look there." He added.

"But Rude," I all but whined, "I don't wanna go there. The last time we were there I ended up covered in drool and milk and your head was covered in baby powder!"

"We don't have much of a choice." He said assuredly before walking in the direction I dreaded. But he was right, as usual. With the other Turk's on the hunt for us, our choices were limited.

With a deep sigh, I followed in step behind Rude. I felt dread well up in me with every step I took. We walked onto the snow covered dirt road that led us to sector 8 slums. We trotted through the snow through thatblanketed sector 7**,** though the deeper we moved inside the city slums, the thinner the snow became. Due to the massive plate blocking the skyline, not much snowfall occurred here. My pant legs were still wet with the dampness of snow, even when were mostly out of it.

Once we arrived in sector eight, we turned down a residential street. Unlike most of the slums, sector 8 probably the most presentable one. The housing here was mostly cement apartments. They held no visual appeal but this place still fared better than the wooden homes of the other sectors. Most people in this sector had service jobs, many of them worked to maintain the upkeep of the reactors. A job Shin-Ra considered valuable, but not valuable enough to allow the people here to be able to sustain themselves above the plate where the elite lived.

We walked up to a four story concrete building and I grimaced. God I hated this place. I slowly dragged my feet up the stairs to the second story. There were kids running around the complex, screaming at the top of their lungs. Women had just begun their daily routine of slum life. Some were pinning up their wet clothes on a line and others tending to the children. It was around twelve o'clock, which meant that only kids under the age of five were out. The others were either at school or skipping it.

I stopped in front of a white door with the number 227 written on it. I lifted my hand to knock, but hesitated. I glanced at Rude one last time, pleading with my eyes for him to reconsider.

"Please Rude, don't make me do this." I begged. The sharply dressed bald man shook his head and pointed to the door. I sighed in acceptance and placed my hand against the door. I could already hear yelling coming from within. I knocked on the door and stepped back. The frantic sound of someone scurrying to get the door could be heard, along with the excited screams of children. The door suddenly opened and the sound of little one's screaming intensified behind the one that had opened the door.

"We don't have the rent!" the red haired woman yelled before he eyes widened in recognition. Her lips trembled and tears formed in the corner of her green eyes. I had the utmost look of dread on my face.

"My…my…baby." She mumbled as tears fell from her eyes.

"Um, hi ma." I said lowly.

She immediately wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close. My mom was a small woman of about 5' and weighed about ninety-five pounds, but her hugs were so tight and forceful one would think she was a grown man. Her shoulder length hair was bound in a small ponytail, and she wore a simple brown shirt and pants with an apron.

Once she released he grip around me, she smiled sweetly up at me before her expression turned serious. I knew it was too good to be true.

"Reno Alexander!" She yelled before popping me on the head. "It's been too long since ya seen yer ma."

"Ouch!" I winced, rubbing the sore spot where she hit me. "I send you money every month."

"Money can't replace a mother's child." She scolded, then turned to Rude with a pleasant smile.

"It's nice to see ya again m'dear."

Rude nodded his head politely. "Likewise, Mrs. Schneider."

"Now Rude, you know you don't call me Mrs. Schneider."

"Sorry, Ma." He said with an embarrassed flush.

"Now," she said turned her gaze back on me. "What brings you here? I'm sure you didn't come just to visit yer family."

"Um…actually, I did." I lied. If I had told her we just needed a hiding place until tomorrow night she would have flipped out on me. "I came to see ya and the fam, ma."

"Very well then. Come inside and say hi to ya siblings." She stepped aside for me to enter the apartment. I reluctantly entered the small living area, only to be attacked by four small redheaded children. They grabbed my pant legs and pulled with all their strength. Their insistent excited screams never ceased and if anything they increased in pitch.

"Hey, hey, hey!" I yelled down at them. Their little nails were starting to pinch my skin. "Get off me."

Of course they didn't listen. Instead they pulled even harder until my balance was about be knocked off. I didn't want to accidentally fall on one of them, so I reluctantly knelt down to their level and let them hug me. These little ones were the youngest of the Sinclair/Schneider family: the two four year old twins Sera and Sonya, three year old Roger and two year old Remmy. The sad part is that this was only half my brothers and sisters. The rest were at school.

I had what you would call, a large family. My mother had a total of ten kids including me. I was the second oldest, having a sister a year older than me. My mother had started having children relatively young, but she also married young at the age of 16. I had already left home by the time these little one's here were born. My father died when I was fourteen, so I took it upon myself to support the family because I was the oldest male. I Joined Shin-Ra and started sending money home soon after.

My mother had gotten remarried five years ago to a man who worked on the Shin-Ra Reactors. But I still sent money to my family to help out. After the little ones had their fill of me, they raced toward Rude. They pulled the same tactic on him that they pulled on me, causing him to bend down to their level. I grinned at the sight of the normally composed man being tackled by my siblings, causing his shades to become askew. Ever since our Shin-Ra Academy days, Rude had always came home with me for the breaks, considering he didn't have a family of his own. He was like a member of our household, my mother and stepfather even called him son. I remember having invited Tseng over the breaks as well but he always declined. According to Veld, he always stayed in the dorms over the breaks. Maybe he didn't have a family either?

"Alright now kids, leave big brother Rude alone and go play." My mother said, shooing them off. Rude then stood up and straightened his suit and shades. I stood up and stretched out my limbs, accidentally hitting a lamp. I had forgotten how small this place was. It was a four bedroom two bath apartment, but the total space was smaller than my apartment in the sector eight next to the LOVELESS district.

"Come on into the kitchen and tell me whatca been up to." She said.

We followed her into the quaint kitchen/dining area that was no bigger than my office at work. I sat in a wooden chair at the old rickety table that's been around as long as I have. She placed a cup in front of both of us and poured us her special lemon tea with honey. I wasn't much of a tea drinker, but Ma's tea was divine. I sipped casually at it, savoring every sweet flavorful taste.

"So how's the General Affairs Department?" she asked.

"The what?" I said dumbly, catching my mistake afterward. "Oh!…yeah it's going alright." I had grown so accustomed to the term Turk, I had forgotten that our official name was General Affairs.

"I see." She said as she sipped her tea, her green eyes locked onto mine. My mom knew we were Turks, and she knew what our job entitled, but she never let the words Turk fall from her lips. She'd told me time and time again how she preferred Rude and I to be SOLDIER's. She had said that a SOLDIER's job was justified in the way they took lives; a Turk's job was not.

"So what's this about you can't pay the rent?" I asked. It was the first thing she yelled opening door, probably assuming it to be the landlord.

"Well, we had to spend the money ya sent us on medicine for the twins. Their lungs ain't doin' good ya know? But with the bridge being out supplies are limited. The price of the medicine just sky rocketed."

The medicine the Twins had to take was actually standard medicine most children who lived in Midgar had to take, even above the plate. Pollution and radiation from the eight Mako reactors in such a condensed area made it hard for children to breathe, thus the medicine was necessary. For children above the plate, the medicine was affordable and readily available. But to those in the slums, most couldn't afford it and many children went without, thus many died before the age of ten.

I pulled out the money Rude had given me earlier and cast him a glance. He nodded his head and I placed the bills on the table. My mother looked at the money and shook her head.

"I can't take any more money from you."

"It's fine Ma. This is from Rude. Just take it." I said, pushing the Gil toward her.

"I can't take Rude's hard earned money!" she pushed the Gil back toward him.

"No I insist." The brooding man said.

"I can't take your money, son." She said to Rude.

"But I can!" came the deep, raspy voice of my stepfather. He swiped up the money and did a little giddy dance as he counted the bills.

My stepfather was quite the odd one, but not in a bad way. He seemed to enjoy life no matter how bleak it looked and he always had a smile on his face. I would say it was always pleasant to be around him but, he had a tendency to say whatever came to mind. I've been embarrassed enough for two lifetimes by him and he's only been around for the last five years!

"George!" my mom snapped at him. "Give the boy's their money back."

"Look Gina, they're trying to help us out. Let em'!" He patted my head appreciatively and pulled out a box of cookies from the cabinet. He placed a chocolate chip cookie in front of Rude and I. My step-dad held a cookie up to my face and patted my head like I he was feeding a damn Chocobo.

"You wanna cookie, son? You've done such a good job, helping the family." He continued to pet my head like I was an animal and I scowled.

"Stop treating me like a damn dog!" I snapped, knocking the cookie away from my face. My father made a look of disapproval.

"Such an ill tempered kid. Why can't you be good like Rude there? He's eating his cookie."

I whipped my head around at Rude, who was indeed munching at the little chocolate chip cookie. I slapped the palm of my hand to my forehead in disbelief.

"What the hell Rude?" I questioned a little irritated.

"I'm…hungry." The shaded Turk said.

I sighed and rose up from my seat. "Ima go lie down." I announced. I was tired and a needed a bit of rest. All that damn walking and fleeing from the Turks had taken a lot out of me.

"Alrighty then sweetheart." My mother said sweetly. "I'll keep the kids out of the room during your nap."

I nodded my head and headed over to one of the bedrooms in the small hallway. I choose a random room and shut the door behind me. The room contained two bunk beds and a large dresser positioned between the beds. I figured this to be the older boy's room due to the lack of children's toys and the various male clothes scattered about. Favoring the top bunk, I climbed up and laid atop the soft gray comforter. I kicked off my shoes and took off my jacket. The bed wasn't particularly comfortable, but it was tolerable.

I rested on my side with my face pressed into the soft pillow. My eyelids closed shut as sleep slowly crept upon me, but before I succumbed to it, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the smooth multicolored stone. I ran my finger over it and a slight smile formed on my lips before I fell into a deep slumber.

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**A/N: Rude calls his mother Mr. Schneider because she is remarried and has taken on her current husband's last name. So Reno's last name is Sinclair, Reno Alexander Sinclair to be precise. Just thought I'd mention this as to not cause confusion.**


	23. Chapter 23

**beta'd by Arlene :). Thank you! *Gift fic for her has been posted. It's called ENVY. Be sure to check it out, I'm having so much fun writing it.***

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**Wonderland Fallout 23**

Reno's POV

The sound of wood slamming against concrete jolted me awake, followed by the sound of young male voices. Fuck, my brothers were home. I mentally swore as they came in yelling at each other at the top of their lungs. Fights were a common occurrence in our household. With so many people in a limited space, anxiety was bound to rise to astronomical levels. With a loud groan, I flipped over onto my side to see my two brothers, Reese and Reggie, wrestling on the floor.

Reggie was approximately 17 years old, making him the second oldest male. He wasn't particularly smart, but he was quite a looker. His soft features, big blue eyes and supple strawberry-blond locks made him the target of most of the pedophilic and vulgar men around the Slums. But regardless of how pretty he was, Reggie was not to be fucked with. My bro could fight like no other and had to defend his innocence more times than I could count. He always came out on top, leaving a few broken bones in his wake.

However, Reese was the complete opposite of his brother. Reese was a pale blond, but had very dark eyes in contrast, almost appearing completely black. He wasn't a good fighter but he was really bright. He excelled in his studies and had even skipped a few grades. Normally a bright guy like him would be the target of teasing from the other kids, but when you're the little brother of Reggie Sinclair, most tended not to fuck with him.

I watched as Reggie tackled him to the ground and pinned the poor guy down. Reese's face was turning red from the stress and little tears were forming in the corner of his eyes. It was then that I decided that my nap was over and it was time to intervene. I jumped down from the top bunk and grabbed Reggie off of Reese. Then I slammed him onto the floor, an audible grunt spilled from his lips. He scowled at me and tried to grab my legs, but I was out of his league. I was way too fast and he couldn't even touch me.

Reese stood behind me and laughed at Reggie's fruitless efforts.

"Ha-ha, ya little Skippy!" The pale blond teased.

Reggie gritted his teeth together in anger. He was most definitely a hothead and sometimes the littlest things would set him off. He wasn't really a troublemaker but his anger problems and desire to fight always ended up with mom having a call from the school quite often.

"Man, fuck you." Reggie hissed out.

Reese rolled his eyes before wrapping his arms around me. "I missed you bro." he said softly. I smiled and hugged him back in return. He was such a little softy, and that smile of his melted me every time. Reggie snickered as he walked past us and out the room. I laughed at his frustration and followed suit.

When I entered the living area, Rude was surrounded by the little ones and my sisters who had also just arrived. Sephora and Samara were aged 16 and 9. They looked very much alike, both sporting long curly red hair. Their shade of red hair was similar to mine, very vibrant and shocking. Sephora was currently sitting very close to Rude, a deep red blush on her face**. **Everyone knew she had the biggest crush on him, but she wasn't the only one. My older sister, Seza, was madly in love with him as well. Rude's silent, mysterious nature had captive both my sisters. His handsome good looks enthralled them, along with a sense of danger he seemed to exude.

Seza actually works for Shin-Ra in a standard desk job. I didn't talk to her much or go visit her often because she was, in so many words…a bitch. Seza was probably the most irritating woman I've ever known, and I had to live with her for fourteen years! She looked like a pretty, female version of me. Her long, deep red locks reached her waist and was always perfect. She had sharp aquamarine eyes that always held a certain haughtiness. Seza was beautiful, and she knew it. The only person she tried to act less bitchy around was Rude. She was in love with him, and quite honestly, I wound not approve of Rude dating her. She'd drive him insane.

I smiled at the sight of the little ones nestled comfortably around him and on his lap. They were watching a cartoon on the small 14' television; their lighthearted laughter filled the room.

"Rudey! Rudey! Look!" two year old Remmy yelled while pointing at the screen; his curly red hair bouncing up and down as he did.

Rude didn't speak, just nodded his head at the screen in acknowledgment. Remmy laughed excitedly and plopped down onto Rude's lap, drawing a slight "umph" from the man.

As much as they annoyed me….I loved my family very dearly. We all fought so much and yet, I wouldn't change a thing. Looking over the scene of my brothers and sisters laughing with Rude in the center, my mind began to wonder to other possibilities. My family treated Rude like family, like one of us and he was very receptive, but would Tseng be the same way if he ever met my family? I still planned on making a relationship with him a very real possibility, meaning that he'd have to meet my folks eventually. I honestly couldn't even picture how he would interact with them. He's so straight laced and upscale, how would he handle being around the low class rambunctious clan of the Sinclairs and Schneiders?

I sighed at the thought as I walked into the kitchen, immediately regretting it. My mom and step-dad were sharing a steamy kiss by the stove when I walked in, reflexively I covered my eyes and a noise of disgust erupted from my throat.

"Come on you two! Ya'll don't need to be starting nothing that's gonna lead to something. Ya already got enough kids ma, sheesh!"

My parents ended their embrace with a pleasant smile against each other's lips. Ma then resumed her cooking as my step-dad took a seat at the table. I opened my eyes only when I was sure it was safe. After it was clear, I sat at the table with him. My stepfather, George, was quite a muscular guy, considering he worked on the maintenance of the Reactors. He was very tall and had bright green eyes that always held a playful glint. He generally wore a skull cap, the ends of his dark hair jutting out in any random direction.

He didn't have his cap on at the moment, but the playful glint in his eyes never ceased as he looked over me.

"So boy, ya found yer' self a nice lass?"

I looked away and an awkward half smile formed on my lips. "Um…kinda." Except this lass is most definitely a male, but maybe if he dressed up as a girl? I almost drooled at the image.

"She got big tits like yer ma?" he asked lowly, hopping she wouldn't hear. Of course she did, and popped him on the head with a wooden spoon. Her expression was not pleasant to say the least. He rubbed his sore head and grumbled something under his breath.

I groaned in annoyance. "Um…meh? I mumbled, hoping he would drop the subject. Instead, the worst happened. My mother joined in.

"Whats she look like?" she questioned.

"Ah? Well, she's…"

"Speak up boy!" My stepfather yelled. "Can't hear a damn thing you're saying!"

"Stop yelling in my damn ear please!" I yelled back at him just as loud. Seriously, he was gonna pop my fucking eardrum.

"Sheesh, ya ain't gotta yell. Such an ill mannered child." He said in a distressing tone, petting the top of my head like an animal.

"Get yer stinking hand's off me!" I snapped.

"Aw come on son, tell us about her." He pleaded.

"Yeah sweetheart, we're just curious." My mom added.

I sighed and reclined back in my seat. If they wanted a description so badly, I'd give them one.

"Alright, well she's a shorter than me by a few inches. She has long dark ebony hair and dark eyes. Kinda pale, but healthily so. She's got a great body, thin but well toned."

"And her tits?" My step dad asked hopeful, drawing an annoyed scowl from my mother.

"Flat as board." I said, barely hiding my amusement. He frowned and shook his head in disappointment.

"I thought you were better than that son." He said, petting my head once again in a comforting gesture.

"Stop doing that! Shit!" I yelled annoyed.

"Hey, watch yer fuckin' language!" he scolded. My mother came between us and grabbed both of our ears with a death iron pinch. Fuck did that hurt!

"Ouch!" we both cried out simultaneously.

"Both of you watch yer profanity." She scolded angrily before releasing us. My ear was burning and there was little I could do ease the pain.

"Reno, go tell ya sibs it's time for dinner." She ordered.

"Sure." I said standing up and placing my hands on either side of my mouth to amplify sound. "Dinnertime!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

She popped me on my head in annoyance. "I told you to go tell them, I could have done that."

I smirked and grabbed a plate behind her. I had to be quick. Dinner's here were hectic and always first come first serve. I could hear the patter of feet rushing in this direction and I quickly scooped a helping of mashed potatoes onto my plate. I had just gotten to the meatloaf when everyone rushed in.

"Shit." I swore as I quickly tried to get my food. Reggie was the first in, having pushed everyone else back to get through first. He grabbed a plate hurriedly, and started scooping up potatoes. He had only a second head start before the others rushed in. Reggie tried to block them from the food with his body but my sister, Sephora had grabbed a fork and poked him.

"Ow, you little…!" he hissed out, but she had already started digging in. The other older ones were fighting over who was next; Reese and Samara were shoving and pushing each other around. Reese shoved Samara into Reggie, causing him to almost drop his food. He scowled and glared at her with fierce eyes, but nine year old Samara was a little toughie as well and held his gaze.

"Watch it, kid." He hissed out.

She stomped he little foot and stuck her tongue out at him before returning back to her scuffle with Reese. She came rushing at him and did a roundhouse kick to his gut. Poor Reese doubled over and fell to the ground. Samara smirked in victory before grabbing a plate.

"Nice one sis." I said, looking down at her handy work. Although she was nine and Reese was thirteen, the boy seemed to never win against her. It was humiliating, but I knew exactly how he felt. A time ago when my older sister Seza and I were still in the house, we fought over who got first serve. She kicked my ass up until the time I left home at fourteen. That bitch was insanely strong and although I'm sure I could take her on now, I wouldn't even dare. She's that crazy. She would shank me with any reachable object and think nothing of it, as long as she was victorious.

The littlest ones were already eating in a little section on the floor. My mom always took out a portion for them, herself, and her husband before she called in the others. Dinnertime was always a fight for supremacy, the strongest and quickest got the most food and the younger and weaker got the leftovers. Yeah it sucked, but everyone has tasted the success of fist dig in, and it was that drive to be first that made us fight for the position.

Rude came in during the aftermath, only to be met with scraps of potatoes and meat. His shoulders slumped and his head tilted down as he stared at the almost empty pots and pans. My mother smiled and came up beside him with a plate of food she'd saved for him.

"Of course I'd save a plate for my special boy." She said smiling. Rude took the plate from her and gave her a quick hug in thanks, though even that simple gesture made him blush.

"Mama's boy." I teased him and he took a seat next to me.

"Shut up, Reno." He said embarrassed.

Besides Reggie shoving potatoes in Sephora's ear, Remmy sneezing potatoes out of his nose and Samara randomly slapping the shit out of Reese, it was a rather uneventful dinner. After dinner, the kids went back to either watching TV or doing their homework. Rude and I mostly sat and chatted with my parents, which was always quite comical. Every time I'm home, I feel like I'm separated from the real world, meaning I forget my work and just relax. I missed everyone more than I'd ever let on and although we were technically here only to hide out, it was nice to be home.

At bedtime, Rude and I slept on the pull out mattress in the living area. We didn't feel uncomfortable sleeping next to each other, considering we'd been together since the academy days. I slept quite peacefully on the lumpy mattress, though the constant noise of yelling and gunshots from the outside hindered me a bit. Also, Rude had a habit of mumbling in his sleep which also hindered me. But once I tuned all that out, I slept like a baby.

…

Everyone pretty much slept in late. It was Saturday so there was no rush to get up. It was around noon when the house started to get active. Rude and I got up around that time, though there really wasn't much for us to do. I didn't really have an interest in what the kids were watching on TV, so I played with the little ones for a bit. The day went by rather slowly and when it came time for us to leave, I was tired again. Not sleepy, just lazy and not wanting to do anything. But I couldn't get into that lazed state. We had work to do.

"You sure ya can't stay another day?" my mom asked with a sad expression.

"I'm sorry ma, we really have to get going."

"Well, alright then. Kids, come say goodbye to yer brothers!" she yelled.

They came rushing at us. I knelt down to receive the little ones in my arms. They had little tears in their eyes as they hugged us. The four year old twins Sera and Sonya were practically screaming at us to stay. It broke my heart but I had to go. I said my goodbyes to everyone, exchanging warms hugs and kisses. Sephora was in tears to see Rude leave and wouldn't release him. I had to pry her from his form, which is not an easy task. Pulling a love struck teenage girl off her parting love interest is almost an impossible task.

"Well, we're gonna miss you boys." My step-dad said, his arm wrapped around my mother's waist as we stood in front of the open door.

"We'll try and visit more often." I said to reassure them.

"Make sure you bring that flat chested lass of yours around next time. I wanna meet the one who's wooed my boy." He added.

"Sure thing." I said with a smile. I kissed my mother goodbye and gave my pops a big hug.

We exited the cozy little apartment and waved goodbye to the kids who were waving at us through the window. Soon the apartment complex disappeared from view. I sighed and looked up at Rude. The corners of his mouth were slightly quirked up. He obviously found something funny.

"Ok, what are you smirking about?" I asked curiously.

He glanced over at me with a raised brow over his shades. "flat chested lass?" he said humorously. "Why don't you just tell them you like men?"

"I will, I will…one day." I said, trying to quickly change the subject. I could only imagine how my parents would react if I told them the truth. I'd never really asked my folks what they think about same sex dating, mostly because I never thought it'd apply to me one day.

I sighed and shoved my hands into my pockets to warm them. The sun was just beginning to set when we left and the temperature was dropping. We had to walk all the way to Wall Market to meet this guy who Faire claimed to be the one he sold Tseng to. As we made our way through the slums, I grew increasingly anxious. I wanted to be optimistic, but a sense of dread loomed over me. This trepidation of finally being able to know Tseng's whereabouts brought forth relief, but also apprehension.

Sure we would know where he was located but what state would he be in when we rescued him? It'd been almost two and a half weeks since we were separated and we hadn't even heard a word from him. I would assume that he'd be able to reach a phone, which were so convenient and accessible these days but no word came. I recalled something Rufus had said to me that morning I woke up with his gun aimed at my head. He'd said something along the lines of, "Tseng could escape from a whorehouse with ease", but then I refuted his claim by saying he had been wounded when he was captured, thus making his escape improbable.

But when I really thought about it, I started to notice some details about this whole situation that seemed, well….off. Tseng had been injured when he was captured by the Serpentine gang, that I was sure of. Also, when he was sold by Faire I assumed he was defenseless as well; however, when Faire showed me that video I'm sure that he seemed cured of his injuries. I hadn't really paid much attention to that little detail at the time but now that I had time to think, I was quite sure he had been healed.

Regardless of Tseng's slight form and soft appearance, he was quite the skilled fighter and tactician. One would think once he was cured of his injuries he would have figured out a way to escape by now but he hadn't. We've been held against our will before but we Tseng always had a plan to get us out alive. Even the most dire of times, when all hope was lost and escape seemed impossible, he always came through for us…for me. So just why couldn't he escape from this exclusive whorehouse?

I came to the conclusion that something was quite possibly holding him back. I had no idea what would cause him to hold back his efforts in escape but something had to be the basis of it. My curiosity and anxieties grew as we drew closer to our destination.

Wall Market was bustling with life when we arrived. This place thrived after dark, especially in the adult entertainment section. The smell of smoked meats filled my nostrils as we passed by busy restaurants and diners. Long lines had begun to form in front of Item and Weapons shops. Prostitutes from the Honeybee Inn were already out and looking for business. Gangs ranging from minuscule to renowned also lined the dirt pathways and hung out around their various territories. Wall Market was undeniably the Slum version of the business sector from above the plate.

Rude nudged me in the shoulder once he spotted the clothing store that this "buyer" was supposed to be at. Maha's Linen was a popular store, though most of their fashions would be considered gaudy and out of style by most above the plate. I remember my mother taking us kids to shop here for clothes when I was younger. We mostly purchased uniforms since all Slum students were required to wear them. I would have never guessed that the selling of people into prostitution was going on in the back room.

We entered the moderately sized store, the bell signaling our entry. It was not as crowded as other places, but that was to be expected. Who goes shopping at 7pm? A young man was at the counter with a bored expression on his face. He didn't even look our way when we entered, but the others did notice us. The womenfolk promptly placed the clothes they had back onto the rack and shooed out their kids, leaving right behind them. An amused grin formed on my lips and people began to clear the store due to our presence. A man made to walk in but immediately left once he saw us both. Yup, that's how bad ass the Turks were. Whenever we entered an establishment with our sharp dark suits and a gleam of intent in our eyes, people cleared the place quick.

With the store mostly empty, except for some random crazy ass hobo in the corner singing "the wheels on the bus", we approached the front desk. The bored teenager didn't look up to address us as we stood in front of the desk. He sighed and flipped a page of his magazine.

"Welcome to Maha's Linen." He greeted us lazily without looking up.

"Fucking rude ass kid." I snapped at him before I pulled out my EMR and slammed it onto the desk. The teen jumped up in surprise and his eyes widened once he recognized who we were. He quickly scanned the store to find it completely empty and a wave of fear hit him. I smirked at his fear stricken expression.

"Looks like someone missed the memo." I teased.

"What…what do you want?" the blond haired teen stuttered, his brown eyes quivering.

"We need to talk to a man named…named…" Ah fuck, I forgot the guy's name. I glanced up at Rude who just shook his head.

"Dasque." The brooding man said evenly.

"Yeah. A guy named Dasque." I leaned closer to the nervous boy and sneered. "Well? Ya gonna show us to the back or are we gonna have to make ya?"

"Um…well, ya see…" he muttered.

"Come on boy, we ain't got all fucking night." I hissed out, my patience was wearing thin.

"He…ain't here." He flinched as if I were going to strike him, and it was only when Rude grabbed my arm that I realized I was about to hit him. My arm reacted faster than my brain could process. I let my arm fall to the side and tried to remain calm, though I could feel the heat rising to my head in anger.

"Okay, now say that once again." I said, holding back fury.

"Please don't get mad at me. I'm just a cashier and I ain't got nuthin' to do with the business in the back."

"Where is he?" I hissed out.

"I told you, he ain't here. He didn't come today."

"Why not?"

"I…dunno. He just called in and said he there was no need for him to come today."

"What the fuck does that mean? Did he say why?" My lips were starting to tremble with suppressed rage.

"He didn't say, he just told me to tell his sellers that he wasn't coming anymore."

I backed away from the desk and laced my fingers into my red flames as I paced back and forth in fury. We'd come so fucking close once again, only to have our efforts wasted. Why of all days did the buyer decide he didn't want to come anymore? Did Faire tip the guy off in advance? Was this just another part of his fucking mind games?

While I was pacing back and forth, gritting my teeth and hissing with contained rage, Rude had remained calm and stood by the desk. He cleared his throat and adjusted his shades before he spoke to the boy. What he said next proved to me that Rude was clearly the most intelligent being in the world if only for those few seconds.

"Do you have a number that can reach him?" he said plainly.

"Um…actually,yes." The boy pulled out a small black book and flipped a few pages before handing it to Rude. "He tells us to give this number to his clients that want to call him."

"Thanks." Rude said as he pulled out his phone and dialed the number.

I stood dumbfounded with a stupid look on my face. It started ringing and Rude, who wasn't much of a talker, tossed the phone in my direction. I caught it and placed it to my ear.

"Good thinking Rude." I praised.

I waited a few seconds before a smooth voice responded. "Hello, this is Dasque. How may I help you?"

Quickly, I thought up a plausible story. "Yes I'm a new seller and I came here with the intention of selling you my finest catches. I understand your time is limited but there are a few of us wondering where you are?"

"I apologize to you and all the other sellers, but I won't be back for a while. At the moment, I'm temporarily out of business due to unforeseen circumstances."

"These circumstances being?"

"Well…I guess you guys have a right to know. The whorehouse which I work for underwent extensive damage two nights ago."

"How extensive?" I questioned, my heart racing a bit.

"It's not even there anymore. The whole place is destroyed. Apparently it was bombed and the place went up in flames. A lot of people died so it's pretty serious."

Now I was starting to get nervous. I hope Tseng hadn't been one of the bombs victims. "I don't understand. Who would take the measures to blow up a whorehouse?"

"I don't know much of the details, but my boss is still alive, made it out with a few minor cuts. Unfortunately not everyone was so lucky. I'm going to see him now and try to figure out what happened. I'm sorry you've wasted time traveling there but there really is nothing I can do."

"I see." I said lowly.

"Well if there isn't anything else Sir, I have to…"

"Hold on a sec," I said hurriedly. This was my only shot at finding a little something if possible. "Do you recall a man named Faire selling you a Wutaiian with the help of the Serpentine gang?"

"Yes, I recall that quite well because Faire called me to come get him a.s.a.p instead of waiting for my usual meeting times. I remember being upset that he called me out but once I saw the man I was quite pleased. He was very attractive and just what the boss had been asking for. Any reason why you're asking?"

"We used to work in a bar together before I got into the slave trade. I just wanted to know if he was alright."

"He seemed fine when I last saw him, though he was asleep. I couldn't say for sure now, seeing as how the place was destroyed and many were killed or wounded."

"Alright then. Thanks for your time."

"No problem sir. Goodbye."

I bit my lip as the newly discovered information processed through my brain. The place had been destroyed…Tseng might be dead or seriously hurt…and there was nothing I could do for him. No. I couldn't think like that, I had to be optimistic about his survival.

These past few weeks had been nothing but unfortunate event after unfortunate event. Never had such chaos ensued one after another like this with no end in sight to the madness. This was ridiculous. This couldn't all be coincidence, right?

Now we were back at square one. Tseng was still missing and we didn't know where he was.

"We have to go back." Rude said evenly.

I smirked. "You realize if we come back empty handed we're going to jail right?"

"Yes. But we're not going to turn ourselves in."

I raised a questionable brow as a look of confusion crossed my features. "Say what?"

"Reno…think." He said in a deep tone, crossing his arms.

"Aah…wha?" I fumbled dumbly.

"Just think. Don't worry, I'll wait till you get it."

"Um…okay? I said skeptically. He wanted me to think, about what? I'd been doing a lot of that as of late and it's gotten me nowhere closer to Tseng. Well, if he wanted me to think, I'd think. Let's see…

I stood up straight and began to stroke my chin in a thoughtful manner. Honestly, I had no idea what he wanted me to think about. My mind was blank and I couldn't really focus. A few minutes passed of my mindless thought process and I came to the conclusion that my brain was shot.

"Dude…I don't know what I'm supposed to be thinking about." I said annoyed.

Rude sighed and shook his head. "Reno, what was said at the meeting yesterday?"

"Um...I dunno. But Rufus punched the shit out of his dad and that was fucking awesome!" I smiled wide in remembrance. Rude groaned in annoyance and adjusted his shades more evenly.

"No not that. Where are we actually supposed to be at right now."

"In Tseng's pants." I said, just for kicks. Though that little joke earned me and slap on that back of my head. I hissed at the sharp pain and rubbed my sore head.

"Okay, okay…we're supposed to be in Costa Del Sol I think." I answered.

"Why were we to go there?"

He was walking me through this as if I were a child. It was staring to piss me off but I went along with it.

"Because…um?"

Shit…why were we going there again? Something about surfers on the shore? No…it was much more serious than that. Fuck, what I remembered most was Rufus punching his dad and running away from the other Turks. Was it something for the mayor again? No. Think Reno, think! It was something about a ship? Yup, I remember a ship. But what happened to it? Hmm…oh yeah, it blew the fuck up. And there was some crazy guy throwing people overboard until he got shot. Yup, that was it.

_Good thinking Reno, _I thought to myself with a pat on the back.

"A ship blew up." I said with confidence.

"And when did this happen?"

"Um…two nights ago I think."

"Good, now when did the whorehouse blow up."

"Um…two…nights…ago…" As I was saying this, I was starting to put the pieces together. Slowly but surely.

"What does this mean?" he said as if asking the final question on a test.

"It means that…the bombings are related somehow. Yeah, I see what you're getting at. So we do have to go back, only to get a helicopter and go to Costa. I got it!" I cheered.

He nodded his head and walked towards the door. I had a wide smile on my face as I walked out the door, feeling proud of myself.

"Yup Rude, I knew it would come to me." I said as if it were my idea first.

"Say Rude?" I glanced over at his taller form. "Ya think we'll find Tseng soon?"

He nodded his head assuredly.

"Positive."

* * *

**Hurray for spring break! I hope you all that are on spring break enjoy your vacation! I know I will :).  
**


	24. Chapter 24

**Warnings apply in this chapter.**

**Beta'd by Arlene :D

* * *

**

**Wonderland Fallout **

**Tseng's POV**

It's been a week since the ship's sailed away from Midgar and since Jiao was shot. I haven't seen him at all from that time and have no idea what his condition is. Armand, the gentleman with the golden eyes and helping heart, has also been separated from me. He had been kicked off the ship right before it set sail. As he was being escorted out, he yelled promises of rescue and hope, but I'm starting to lack any optimism of hope at the moment.

Currently, I was locked in a red painted room with only a bed and a side table. A shower, toilet, and sink were sectioned off by a wall and were my only amenities. I'd been in this room for seven days now and I'd tried just about everything to get out. I tried running out when the guards came, but there were too many blocking the way, plus I didn't have a weapon. I tried punching the walls to form a hole, but all that served to do was impair my hands rather than damage the walls. The knuckles of my left hand were scrapped and marred with cuts from my fruitless attempts.

I ate only one meal a day consisting of bread, chicken soup and water. I usually tried to manage my food rations throughout the day, since I knew I'd be hungry later on. Most of the time, I slept because there was nothing else to do. The boredom was almost unbearable. I had nothing but my thoughts and worries to entertain me. But that wasn't the worst part of this ordeal.

I only have two visitors daily, and they've never missed a day. They come around the same time each day, though I couldn't be sure because I didn't have a clock. Apparently, Pero Donte had given me to them for the week, since they were the only two that could control me. When they came, they brought pain and humiliation with them. These feelings once forgotten were now resurfacing greater and greater every day.

Faire and Zama raped me every day and there was little I could do to stop them. Try as I might to defy them, my efforts only outcome was the little black box in my mouth. The shocks from this device were extremely painful, often causing me temporary blindness and blackouts. I fought back with such vigor at the beginning, but I was so tired now from a lack of a proper diet and exercise that I couldn't find the strength to resist as strenuously as I did before.

Admittedly, I was depressed and miserable. I hadn't felt this bad physically and emotionally since I was child living in my father's house. My father, the mere thought of the man made my skin crawl. I dreaded this place but what Faire and Zama were doing to me was miniscule compared to what my father did to me. Unspeakable acts that I try my hardest to forget, but my time in this place has made that very hard. The emotions I felt here were relative to the ones I felt as a child.

Helpless, hopeless, dirty, and tarnished, is how I felt about myself. I knew deep down inside that none of this was my fault, but I couldn't help how I felt. My body had been used for the sexual pleasure of people I hated for so long, I was starting to think that maybe I deserved it. Maybe those horrific years with my father were a pre-punishment for all the heinous acts I committed as a Turk.

I lay in the bed with these thoughts of shame and dread swirling around in my mind. My head was throbbing with pain and I massaged my temples to relieve some pressure. Without my pills, my migraines were going untreated. I was generally in a constant state of pain, either from Faire and Zama's endeavors, or my headaches. It seemed I could never get any relief, except when I slept. My dreams, regardless of the horror I was living, were often pleasant. Most of them were about my secret love interest, which gave me some joy.

The most recent dream I had was about Reno, Rude and I going on a mission to Wutai to negotiate with their leader. We were trying to convince Lord Godo, the leader of Wutai, to relent on his ban of building Mako reactors. Of course he refused and even went so far as to call me a traitor to my own people. I left infuriated with Reno and Rude trying to console me on the ride back to our hotel. Nothing they said could ease my anger and frustration and I had spent the time in my hotel room brooding. It had been around midnight when I heard a knock on my door. Reno had come to see if I was doing better and had asked if there was anything he could do to help. I had nodded and gestured for him to come sit on my lap. His warm body against mine had instantly let up my bad mood and his mouth upon mine made me feel even better. We had kissed for what seemed like hours and my body seemed to set afire with him in my arms. I was just about to start undressing him when I woke up, pissed off that the dream ended as it did.

But it was these dreams of him that kept me sane and entertained. Even though I had been filled with doubt and uncertainty, my love and desire for Reno had not faltered. He was the only thing I was certain about. But I knew as much as I wanted him, I couldn't have him. Not that I didn't have a chance, but I had seen firsthand what love between Turks comes to. I did not want Reno to have that fate. Also, I kept feeling that someone like him deserved better than a used tool such as me. He should have better than someone who had been used over and over again like a dirty rag.

But I couldn't deny I loved him. His mannerisms, his way of thinking, his gorgeous looks were all things I adored about him. A faint smile graced my lips like usual when I thought about him. I wanted to be with him, but I knew it was better for us to be apart.

I rolled onto my stomach and sighed. I wanted to go to sleep but I'd slept so much that I couldn't, so I simply laid there. Sometimes I would do some exercises, but I didn't feel like it. My body craved a full cardio workout and a few laps around the track, but without eating the right amount of calories to burn off, I was just wasting energy. I was noticeably slimmer and my muscle definition was starting to decrease. The pleasant endorphins that were usually released when I worked out weren't there anymore, making exercise more a task than a joy.

I curled up into the black silken sheets. It was a bit chilly in the room and all I had on was a long dark shirt that went to my thighs. They hadn't even bothered to give me any pants or underwear.

I was instantly on alert when I heard noises coming from the other side of the door. Was it time yet for them to come? The door opened to reveal Faire to my despair. He was wearing bright blue jeans with a leather jacket that covered his pectorals, but left his torso exposed. He also had on florescent Neon green high-tops. It was times like this where I just had to ask myself, how the fuck was I losing to this guy?

Oddly enough, he was by himself Every time he had come here, his brother/lover was always with him. Together, they wrecked havoc on my body. He closed the door behind him and looked in my direction. I glared at him but he wasn't fazed. Instead, he walked over and sat on the bed next to me with his legs crossed. I thought about attacking and strangling the fuck out of him but the repercussions of that would probably be my own death.

"Where's your incestuous lover?" I asked contemptuously.

He looked down at me and ran his fingers through his long blond locks. "I told him to stay away today. I wanted you to myself." He said through a grin.

"I see." I said with dread.

The blond then reached over and touched my cheek in an almost loving gesture. "You're so beautiful."

"I'm so flattered." I said sarcastically.

"No I mean it. You're gorgeous." He said as he began to play with a strand of my hair.

"So what." I snapped.

"I want you." He said lustfully. He leaned closer to me and pressed his manicured nails against my back and lightly added pressure. I shrugged my shoulders in disregard and closed my eyes.

"I have a surprise for you." He whispered in my ear. He then sat up and loomed over me. I could feel his green eyes bearing down on me and it made me very uneasy. Grabbing the sheets, he whipped them off, exposing my mostly bare body to the chilly air. I scowled as he grabbed my legs and started to pull me back toward him. I would have kicked the shit out of him, but as I've learned, resistance only got me into deeper trouble.

He grabbed my waist and hoisted me up onto his lap. I hissed through gritted teeth as he seated me with my back to his chest. His familiar scent of sickening sweet candies engulfed me. I struggled in his hold as he wrapped his arms around me and rested his head upon my shoulder.

"Let me go!" I yelled. He smiled against my neck and held me firmly.

"I can't very well do that. I have to give you your surprise."

I heard him rustle in his pocket and fish out some items. A brief laugh escaped him as he grabbed my thighs and spread them apart. A blush flushed my face in embarrassment, though this was minor torture compared to the horror him and his brother put me through all this week.

I closed my eyes and tried to pretend I was anywhere but here. All hope of that vanished when he pressed something hard and plastic against my entrance. I gasped when he started to push the little object inside me. It slipped in and I shuddered at the feel of the ovular plastic within me. I didn't want to open my eyes to see my humiliation firsthand so I kept them closed shut. His finger prodded my entrance before he shoved it inside. I winced as the un-lubricated finger forced its way in and started to push the object back a little bit deeper.

"Ahh, still so deliciously hot inside you." He said breathily. Once he had set the object, he pulled his finger out and started to massage my thighs. It was when he removed his finger that I realized there was no cord coming out of my opening which would allow for the object to be pulled out and operated. I grew frantic within his arms.

"How the fuck are you supposed to get this thing out!" I snapped.

"Don't worry. This is new toy that I thought fitting for you. You see, it's controlled by a remote control device and it can only be removed with assistance. At the angle it's in now, if you tried to reach back and take it out, you'd only push it in deeper. It will take a skilled hand to remove it, that's how I designed it." He said with a smirk.

"Fuck you."I hissed out. This guy always seemed to have some new device to torture me with. He licked his finger and pressed it against my opening again. He circled it and pressed the tip of his manicured finger inside me.

"I want to be in here so bad, but I have to go. We land at Costa Del Sol tomorrow morning and I have some business to take care of."

He flicked his tongue across my neck and removed his finger from my body. I breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled me off his lap and stood up to leave.

"Don't worry, that stimulator inside you will keep you plenty entertained in my absence." With that he held up a small white remote and hit a button. My reaction was immediate as the oval shaped object expanded within me. I let out a strained cry as it applied pressure against my prostrate. I shot a glare at him and he blew me a kiss.

"I'll be seeing you, love." He said, shutting the door behind him.

I grunted as I laid back down, humiliated and ashamed. I pulled my shirt down and curled up under the blankets. The object lodged in me was slightly uncomfortable, but I would have to bear with it for now.

I was just about to fall asleep when I heard the door being opened. I glanced up briefly and caught a glimpse of blond hair. Thinking it was either Zama or Faire coming back to humiliate me further, I didn't move from my spot. The door was shut and I heard the person emit a smug laugh.

"I told you I'd come back." A familiar voice said.

I sat up quickly, ignoring the odd feeling the object lodged within me caused. He looked completely different than when I had last seen him. His shoulder length dark hair was now a flattering blond color and pulled back into a neat ponytail, very much how I wore my hair usually. He had on a pair of large sunglasses, and I almost didn't recognize him, but the voice was unmistakable.

"Armand?"I said surprised.

He pulled off his shades to reveal amused golden irises. The sharply dressed man waltzed over to where I was sitting on the bed and knelt down before me. I was honestly quite shocked to see him and looking so different, but his eyes were still the same.

A smile graced his lips as he reached out for my hand and took it in his. He planted a single kiss on my knuckles and grasped my hand within his. A faint twinge of pink colored my cheeks at his chivalrous gesture in regards to me.

"I gave you my word as a gentleman to help you, and I am true to my word." He said honorably.

I smiled genuinely back at him and released my hand from his. "I'm not a woman, Armand. Why must you treat me as such?" I jested.

The now blond haired man stood up and placed his hands on his hips. "I'm glad to see you're okay."

"I'm all in one piece but I really want to get out of here." I said.

"That's what I'm here for my dear."

He tossed a bag over to me and I caught it. I looked through it to find a fresh suit and sharp shoes. Also, the sight of a nine millimeter pistol sent me into a euphoria I couldn't even contain. As soon as I saw it, I kissed the barrel and held it lovingly in my hands.

"I thought you might like that." Armand said amused. "There's more where that came from but you need to get dressed so we can head over to my room."

I placed the weapon down and examined the other contents in the bag. There was another gun, a watch, a pair of shades and…a blond wig? Seriously, what's with all the blond lately?

"Um? Who is this for?" I questioned, holding the medium length wig up.

"It's for you silly. Now hurry and get dressed." He said hurriedly.

"Why a blond wig?" I groaned as I rose up from the bed.

"It's the only one I could find in such a short amount of time. After I was kicked off the boat, I only had three hours to completely change my look, buy some weapons and explosives and find clothes for you. It was indeed the most hellish three hours of my life. I have absolutely no idea what kind of explosives I bought, but they seemed good enough."

I smiled at the golden eyed gentleman as he recounted his events. "Thank you, Armand. You've really helped me out." I said truthfully.

"No worries love."

I quickly pulled off my shirt and dressed into the crisp black suit and white dress shirt. It was a little uncomfortable putting my pants on, since every movement seemed to cause the oval shaped toy in me to slightly move. I slipped on my dress socks and shoes and put on the watch. Lastly, Armand helped pin up my hair so the blond wig would fit. He combed out the synthetic hair and fixed my bangs. In my opinion, I looked absolutely ridiculous but Armand seemed to think otherwise.

"You look very sexy as a blond." He said through laughter. I didn't know if he was joking or if he was being truthful.

"My mother is a blond." I stated. "I always wanted to know what I'd look like with her hair color. It doesn't suit me at all. You look good with that hair color."

"Thanks. Now put the shades on to complete the look."

I placed on the sunglasses and it did make the whole look much better. Armand smiled and handed me my weapons. I placed them in my suit and regarded Armand.

"You look great. I think this look will get you to my room unnoticed."

"By the way, how the hell did you get in here?" I asked curiously.

"I bribed a few guards. Now let's get going."

We quickly exited the room and headed down the hallway. I was a bit unsure of whether this blond wig would work but no one seemed suspicious of us. We went up a few flights of stairs until we reached a hall lined with red lanterns. I remembered that each colored hall had a different purpose but I couldn't remember what red was for. He unlocked a door and we entered with a sigh. No one had noticed us on the way here.

"Yes we made it. Now I can show you the weapons and explosives I brought."

He pulled out a suitcase and unlocked it to reveal it was full of dynamite and grenades. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but it would have to do. Dynamite was very hard to use and often required years of training to use. The grenades could come in handy though. I glanced at the watch on my wrist and noted the time. It was around eight o'clock.

"This will be fine. Thank you. Rest assured I will fully reimburse you for the costs." I said.

He shook his head. "No that won't be necessary. It didn't cost me too much." He said casually.

"What is too much?" I asked.

"Um…around 10,000 gil for everything."

My eyes widened at the astounding price. There was no was hell the items he bought should have been that much. He most likely got ripped off by a seller who knew he didn't know the value of those items.

"I'll pay you back." I said sauntering over to the bar area. Armand bounded after me and cut me off before I reached it.

"Really it's nothing." He said. He was standing in my way and I tried to pass him but he kept blocking me. I raised a dark brow in suspicion.

"Is there any particular reason you're blocking me from the bar?" I asked.

"Tseng, the last time you drank we got nothing accomplished. We both know you can't hold your liquor." He said sternly.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "I think considering the hell I've been through this week, one drink wouldn't hurt."

He stood in front of me with a scolding look one would give an irresponsible child. "No." he said firmly.

I crossed my arms appalled that he was telling me, a grown man, no. "Armand, I appreciate all you've done for me but you can't tell what I can and can't do. Now move. I'm only going to drink very little."

"Are you an alcoholic, Tseng?" he questioned seriously.

"Of course not." I retorted. I just felt as if I couldn't go one day without a glass of whiskey.

"You really shouldn't, and I'm not letting you." He said firmly.

I snickered. "Armand," I said as I approached him, "I would really like a drink."

"I'm sorry my friend, I cannot allow you this. Once we've escaped safe and sound, you can have all the alcohol you want, but right now is not the time."

"I won't get drunk."

"Tseng, do you even remember anything about that night you drank?" he said, tapping his foot.

"Um…something about a toaster or waffles?" I said trying to remember.

"You see! You can't drink. I'm sorry."

I sighed and nodded my head. "I'm sorry Armand. It's just, when I'm feeling like this I drink. Rationally I know I shouldn't, but the alcohol helps me cope."

"It alright Tseng." He said grasping my shoulders and pulling me into a hug, our matching blond wigs entwined. "Everything's gonna be…"

A loud cry interrupted him and it was only a second later that I realized I had made the strained noise. I grasped his shoulders to settle myself, biting my lip to keep from moaning. He held me tightly; a look of concern crossed his features.

"Tseng! Tseng!" He said trying to settle me, but my knees had gone week. "What's wrong?"

I tried to mumble out a response but all that came out were groans and heavy breaths. From his point of view, I must have appeared to be in pain, but what I was feeling was completely opposite from that. Somewhere, Faire must have activated the vibrating toy inside me. It was strategically placed against my pleasure gland. My body was on fire, and I couldn't stifle my growing arousal.

"Tseng what's wrong. Are you about to have a seizure?" he asked frantically.

All I could do was shake my head. I couldn't support myself anymore and began to sink to the ground. Armand gently set me onto the floor and began to press random places on my body.

"Does it hurt here? Tell me where it hurts." He said as he began to examine me.

The device inside me suddenly increased its velocity and I cried out at the wondrous feeling. My pants were starting to feel very tight and uncomfortable. I couldn't be still, tossing my head from side to side as I gripped the plush carpet so hard my knuckles turned white. Soft pants escaped me, and my hips kept rolling upward. It felt so good I couldn't think about anything but the pleasure the device was giving me.

Armand was increasing growing frantic. He began to unbutton my shirt and remove my suit jacket, probably thinking I was hot because my body temperature was so warm. Once he had my top removed, he pressed his hand over my heart, trying to feel my rapid heartbeat. His touch to my oversensitive skin caused me to hiss at the contact.

"Does it hurt here!?" he said, pressing my pectoral.

I moaned again and tried to conjure up something to say to him so he could help me.

"No pain! Kimochi ii!" I moaned out, mentally punching myself for slipping into my native tongue which usually occurred when I was pissed off or in complete bliss.

"I don't know what you're saying!" he yelled confused and worried.

"Feeling…feels good inside." I managed to get out before a breathy groan slipped out.

"Ah? What? What's inside you?" he question as he pressed his hand onto my stomach. "Did they give you something strange to eat?"

I shook my head, my eye lids fluttering. "No, not thereeee!!" I moaned loudly as the velocity increased against my gland. Fuck Faire to the darkest pit in the life stream.

"Where! Dammit Tseng, how am I supposed to help you when I don't know where…"

Doing the only thing I could think of, I grabbed his hand and placed it onto my ass. "There! Fuck!" I hissed out.

Armand's face went as red as a tomato. He withdrew his hand after he felt the vibrating against my covered entrance. "Oh…I see now." He said embarrassed.

He positioned himself between my legs and looked up at me. "Um…you want me to…?"

I nodded my head, the blond wig's bangs were starting to stick to my wet forehead. His blush intensified as he started to pull off my shoes and remove my pants. I tried to keep my legs still but they kept trembling underneath the pleasure. With shaky fingers, Armand unbuttoned my slacks and pulled then down my legs.

"Oh my." The blond wigged gentlemen said through a gasp. I was fully erect in my underwear and I'm sure he could see the strain of it against the dark cotton.

"Can you flip over?" he asked, his voice trembling. I nodded and turned over onto my stomach. My fingers laced into the carpet once again as the new position caused the plastic orb within to press even harder against my sweet spot.

With a nervous gulp, he pulled down my underwear and slipped them off. "Tseng," he said, voice noticeably shaky. "How am I supposed to get this out of you? There's no cord to pull."

"Reach in. Grab it. Pull it out." The most basic instructions I could ever give under the circumstances.

He nodded his head and stood up. Quickly, he ran over to a nightstand were there was lubricant. Settling between my legs, he doused his fingers in oil and gulped. I couldn't believe he was willing to do this for me. I would never doubt his intentions or honor ever again.

"Okay…here goes." He said as his fingers neared my entrance. I glanced back over my shoulder to see him. His cheeks were red and he was slightly sweating.

To my surprise, we both moaned simultaneously when his index finger entered me. He pushed it in further, but stopped momentarily. He had closed his eyes and was mumbling something under his breath. Through hazy eyes, I glanced at him to see if he was okay.

"Armand?" I said, though it came out in a breathy whisper. He bit his lip at that and removed his finger from my body. He gripped my hips and pulled me closer to him. Golden eyes flicked open with heady lust evident in them.

"As a gentleman, I must honor the code of honesty. Tseng, I'm really aroused right now by the sight of you." He said breathily. "But you have my word, I will not try anything."

I nodded my head and braced myself for the incoming intrusion. He reentered me with a pleasurable hiss. I moaned and my back involuntarily arched at the combined feel of his finger and the vibrator within me. My inner muscles clamped and tightened around him and he grunted. Moans kept spilling from my lips at the wondrous feelings coursing through me.

He had finally seeped in deep enough to touch the object, but when he nudged it, it sent an intense wave of pleasure through my body and I bucked back into his touch.

"I almost got it." He said, sounding rather impassioned.

I felt him insert another finger to help aid with the retrieval. His fingers grabbed a hold of the end and started to pull it out, but the sensation of it moving against my gland felt too good to be removed just yet. I reached back and grabbed his arm, stifling his movement. He seemed confused and looked down at me with startled golden eyes. The perplexed look in his eyes faded to one of lust when I started to move his wrist back and forth, causing the toy inside to rub against my sweet spot.

"Ahh, aremaaaa!" I hissed out as I used his arm to rotate the object inside me. He moaned from behind me and grasped my hips. I felt him lean over until his lips touched my ear.

"Tseng, is this what you want?" He whispered hotly as he twisted the object inside me. I cried out and nodded my head rapidly.

"Hai." I moaned out. "Onegaishimasu."

He smirked against my ear and licked the sensitive lobe. "I don't know what you said, but I assume that's a yes." He said in amusement.

With a parting lick, he gripped my waist and flipped me onto my back. He grabbed my legs and spread them, placing one onto his shoulder. With a sly grin, he began to rapidly plunge the object into my gland dead on. An exasperated moan spilled from my lips desperately. I couldn't care less how needy I sounded, it felt too good and Armand knew just where to touch. I arched into his hand and he steadied my hips with his other.

"How does it feel?" He asked seductively, thrusting the object in deeper. My fingers dug deep into the carpet as I bucked to meet his fingers.

"So fucking good." I moaned out, eyes fluttering. He continued to pleasure me until the object suddenly stopped, but we didn't. He pulled the object out of me and grabbed me by my shoulders. I gasped as I felt his lips against mine. His tongue played on my lips, seeking entrance. I happily gave him access and he all but devoured my mouth. His fingers laced into the blond wig I had on. Roughly, he whipped off the wig and my hair fell down like a dark curtain. He then moaned as he twirled a long strand of it around his finger.

His hands wandered all over my naked body, groping what he could. I began to unbutton his shirt as we kissed wetly, our tongues slipping over each others lips. Once I had undone his dress shirt, I raked my rails down his chest. He moaned at the pressure and kissed me harder. I flicked my thumb over his sensitive nipple, loving the feel of it pebbling underneath my fingertips. I broke our kiss and lowered my lips to lick at his rosy buds.

"Oh yesss!" he bit out, his hands laced into my hair as I sucked on his hard nipple. Opening my mouth wider, I bit the pectoral flesh around the bud, licking it as I did. The sensation caused him to tighten his hold on me.

All while I played with his chest, I began to push him down onto his back. He went back without resistance and I grabbed the bottle of lube as we went down. Releasing his nipple with a parting lick, I turned my attentions further south. I yanked off his shoes and undid his pants in record speed. It had been quite some time since I had the pleasure of topping and I desperately wanted to be deep inside him. I pulled down his underwear and was surprised to see light blond hairs nestled around his cock. I looked up at him and raised a questioning brow.

"Did I tell you I was a natural blond?" he said cheekily.

I smirked and doused my fingers in lubricant. "Too many damn blonds. Faire, Zama, and now you. What, you guys just decided to form a blond coalition?" I teased.

He smirked as he wrapped a leg around my waist. "I think dark hair makes me look more professional."

I grinned as I pressed my wet fingers against his opening. The heat radiating from there caused me to lick my lips in anxiousness.

"You've done this before, ne?" I asked, circling his quivering hole with my finger. He moaned and nodded his head successively.

With that, I inserted my middle finger into his burning canal. Heat consumed me and I couldn't help but moan. He hissed at the intrusion and grabbed the carpet, much like I had done earlier. I made quick work of preparing him for me, and soon I was dousing my own large sex with lubricant. I pressed my cock against his pinked entrance, the tip of it spurting at the thought of being inside him.

The blond wigged gentleman pulled his legs up and spread them wide for me. Armand looked so sexy, open and ready to be taken. I began to push my hips forward slowly, sinking deeper and deeper within him. He cried out at the penetration but his eyes pleaded with me to keep going. I sure as hell wasn't going to stop.

I paused momentarily to inspect him for any signs of pain or discomfort. His face was flushed and he was breathing heavily, blond hair a tangled mess. Once I was in deep, I kissed his lips and placed my hands on either side of his head to steady myself. I gave him one more swift kiss and I started to move my hips. The pace was slow, but the way I slipped in and out of that deliciously burning heat was enough to drive me mad. It had been to long since I had topped like this and it was fucking amazing.

Consumed by my arousal and lust, I started to go faster, causing him to moan and buck against my oncoming thrusts. His movement spurred me on and I started to ravage him like a madman, grunting as I plunged deep into him. The friction and heat around my cock was unbelievable, and I started up short powerful thrusts, just so I could stay inside him more. His expression was one of complete bliss and the moans that fell from his moist lips were addicting to the ear.

He let out a particularly loud scream and his back arched up. "Oh yes, right there!" he cried out. I more than happily aimed for that spot with every sharp jab of my hips. I released all restraint and unleashed all the pent up frustration I had gathered from my circumstances on him. I grabbed his legs and hoped to Leviathan he could take what I was about to give him. Pushing his legs up, they dangled by his ears as I plunged deep into him with quick fire thrusts.

At this angle, his own cum from his cock was spurting little droplets onto his chest and face. He opened his mouth with a moan to eagerly accept his own fluid that was falling into his mouth. I groaned loudly and increased my speed at the dirty display. To see the honorable gentlemen do something so provocative made me almost cum right then and there.

My long dark hair dangled onto his flushed face and I had to keep flipping it over to one side so I could see his pleasurable expression fully. I always liked to see how my partners were enjoying the gratification I gave them. Armand was indeed beautiful, but I wished a certain redhead was lying underneath me reveling in pleasure. I moaned at the thought and grabbed his cock. I began to move my hand rapidly over his sex, making his cries increase in pitch.

"Oh Tseng!" he cried out. I swore out loud as he called my name. I gripped his hips and fucked him like a beast, setting a desperate pace as I neared my finish. Armand's back arched and he suddenly came in my hand without warning. His inner muscles clamped tightly around me and I could feel my release surging, threatening to explode any second now. I quickly pulled out and stroked my aching sex until I came hard unto his stomach, accidentally getting some on his face at the angle I was in.

I carefully placed his legs back down and tried to catch my breath. This was the best I'd felt in weeks and I couldn't stop the grin that formed on my lips. I guess a good hard fuck with someone who I actually liked was just what I needed, and apparently what Armand wanted. I stood up and walked over to the bathroom to get a damp towel. I returned shortly to find Armand sitting up with a big smile on his face. Kneeling down, I began to wipe his face and stomach, feeling slightly guilty I came on him like that.

"Sorry." I said embarrassed.

"Don't be." He said assuredly. "That was indeed revitalizing."

After I had wiped him down, I gathered up my clothes and began to get dressed. Armand did the same, fixing his wig that had become askew in our passion. I couldn't believe how good I felt right now. I didn't feel as bleak as before, instead I felt renewed and strangely better about the situation, all thanks to Armand.

After I had dressed and applied my blond wig, I pulled Armand into a hug from behind. He laughed and patted me on the head lovingly.

"No worries love. A good lay will make any man feel as if he can accomplish anything." He said as he applied his shades.

"I guess if I slept with Reno, I'd feel like a fucking god." I said, pondering the thought.

Armand laughed heartily and slapped me on the back in humor. "Right now, I think I could take on the Great General Sephiroth."

I snickered and placed on my shades. "Alright Armand, how good of a swimmer are you?" I asked.

"I'm as good as you are in bed." He said with a wink.

"Excellent. Because I'm going to need you to dive deep in order to carry out the task at hand. You think you can handle it?"

He smirked and nodded his head assuredly.

"Right now, I feel as if I could dive into the deepest parts of the ocean and take on the god of the waters himself."


	25. Chapter 25

**beta'd by Arlene** :)

**Enjoy**

* * *

**Wonderland fallout **

Tseng POV

I rummaged through the supplies Armand had provided and selected a few sticks of dynamite, examining them carefully. Dynamite was a very dangerous explosive material that if not controlled, could do some serious damage. I knew from past experience that one stick could completely obliterate a vehicle or destroy a part of a person's home. These were all cases at some point in my life when The President requested bombing as a means of death for our assigned target.

A timer rested in the corner of the suitcase with coiling red and blue wires sticking out at the end. The detonator that activated the timer also lay in the corner. This was good. Having a timer meant the bomb could be set and the detonator would allow for me to activate the bomb earlier if the situation required it. I pulled out four sticks of dynamite and attached the timer to them. I bundled the sticks up tightly and handed the bundle of dynamite to Armand who received it reluctantly.

"So, this won't obliterate the ship right?" he asked apprehensive. I shook my head.

"No, there will be damage but not enough to destroy the whole ship. This boat is pretty massive so I'm sure it'll stay afloat." I said assuredly.

"If you say so." He replied skeptically.

I then selected a semi-automatic gun and loaded it. Along with the gun I was given earlier, I had total of two with four replacement cartridges. I concealed them within my suit jacket making sure they were carefully hidden. The detonator I placed in my pants pockets and shoved it down as far as it could go. I did not want to risk it falling out.

The golden eyed gentleman came up beside me as I was reading myself for our endeavors. "So, what are you going to set the timer for?"

"What time is it now?" I asked.

He glanced up at the clock on the far end of the wall. "Nine-ish." He responded.

"I'll set it to 10: 30pm." I said, setting the timer in his hands. Once the red light came on and the numbers started going down, I decided it was time to go. I doubled checked where my weapons were situated on my person before I turned to Armand.

"You said you could swim right?" I inquired.

"Quite well actually. I used to swim for my high school team." He said proudly.

"Do you think you could dive into ocean and attach this bomb to the side of the boat?"

"Sure thing, but how am I supposed to get back up?" he asked concerned.

"Usually, there are lifesavers attached to long ropes on the railing, just in case someone falls off. I'll use that to pull you up." I said.

"Alright, sounds good. I'll bring a towel along so I can dry off." He said, placing the bundled dynamite down on the couch before bounding over to the bathroom. The blond wigged gentleman soon emerged with a fresh white towel draped over his arms. He then picked up the bomb and stood at the doorway with a wide grin on his handsome face

"Ready when you are." He said, full of energy.

I couldn't help but grin at his expression. "Don't you think I should tell you the rest of the plan first?"

He laughed lightheartedly and scratched his head at his anxiousness. "Oh yeah. I almost forgot."

"It's very simple. You place the bomb, we release an escape boat, we retrieve Jiao, activate the bomb if need be and use it as a distraction to escape."

Armand blinked once and scratched his head bewildered. "Um…who is Jiao?"

A slight pang struck my heart as I replayed the shooting over again in my head. The poor 17 year old had taken a bullet for my defiance and the guilt was a constant reminder of my failure to protect him. Realization struck my companion and his eyes widened in remembrance.

"Was he the fellow that was shot?" he questioned.

I nodded my head. "I have to save him. I made a promise and I will keep it, no matter the cost." I said sternly.

"But, why can't we just sneak away with Jiao? Why must we use the bomb in the first place?" Armand questioned.

"We might not even need to use the bomb if we can escape with Jiao unnoticed, but in the worst case scenario, we'll have to use the explosion to create a distraction. My hope is that we won't have to use the bomb and I can disarm it if we make it to an escape boat; however, I highly doubt we'll be able to take Jiao without being seen."

"I see. Well, let's hope for the best." He said through a wide smile.

"Alright, let's go." I said, determination embedded in my tone.

We left the room and headed for the deck of the ship. I hadn't been up top yet, so I had to follow Armand for direction. He led me to an elevator that was located at the end of the hall. With his guest key card, we were granted access and were soon on our way up. He stood next to me in the elevator with a wide smile on his face. I couldn't help but glance over at him in curiosity.

"You find something funny?" I asked amused.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about ten minutes ago." He grinned.

I sighed and popped him in the back of the head lightly to scold him, though our past embrace was still vivid in my mind as well. "Focus please."

"Fine, fine." he said, though his smirk remained.

The doors opened and we stepped out onto the deck. I was quite taken back of the sight of the ocean underneath the dark skies. There were lanterns lit all along the deck, illuminating it a soft red. An outdoor restaurant was packed with "working girls" and their clientele. Soft jazz was being played by a live band. The area that resided in front of the band was filled with couples slow dancing, gently rocking back and forth to the music. Others that were seated at the tables were either pleasantly enjoying the band or chatting with their respective companions.

To my surprise I spotted Zama, Faire's incestuous lover, sitting with a group of elegantly dressed male escorts: some in sharp suits, others in formal gowns. Disgust welled up inside me as I viewed him among the crowd. I couldn't believe him and his brother had raped me every day when I was locked up. I wanted to beat him with the butt of my gun until he bled and suffered as I had done, but time was short and I didn't have time to waste, though part of me desperately wanted to hurt him regardless. With a heavy sigh I, looked away from the man and suppressed my vengeful thoughts. Another day, another time…

Armand and I made our way through the lively mass, with some difficulty. Most of the people here were a bit tipsy and couldn't comprehend that we needed to get through, not dance with them. It took everything in my power not to deck a guy who tried to grab me so I could dance with him. At first I tried to be cordial and slightly ease away from him, but the middle aged man would not relent. He kept saying "get yer sweet, blueberry ass over here and dance with me!" slurring in his intoxication. I honestly didn't know why he called me a blueberry but, I didn't think too deep into it. After a quick shove, I had pushed the man back and dashed away with Armand. He seemed quite amused with a big smile on his face as we cut through the masses.

It was a bit of a walk to reach the end of the deck, but we made it without being noticed. It was very secluded in this area and there were no people around here. I quickly scanned the area for any cameras and found only one, but at the angle it was at, it wouldn't see us. Armand was leaning on the railing looking out across the vast waters. I stood next to him and also took in the view.

"Quite spectacular, huh?" the gentlemen said enamored by the sight.

"Yes, it is." I responded. The moonlight's reflection on the water was striking. Armand began to remove his clothes, glasses and wig, getting ready for the dive into the waters. Once he had completely stripped, he had handed his clothes to me and smiled, his pearly white teeth beamed underneath the moonlight.

"Wish me luck." He said before taking a deep breath.

"Of course." I said, giving him a genuine smile.

He climbed over the railing and stood on the small part of the extended deck. With one last look at me, he jumped. It was a bit of a way down, so he didn't hit the water until a few seconds later. I looked for his form in the dark seas, but I couldn't see him. Hopefully he'd be alright. I leaned against the railing, scanning the area once again for any onlookers.

After a minute or so, I looked for Armand to reemerge. I had a momentary moment of panic when I didn't see him, but it resided once I saw his head of dark hair pop out the water, the glow of the ship light illuminated him in the shadowy waters. He waved at me with a big smile on his face. I waved back and motioned for him to hurry back on board. I unwrapped the lifesaver and I tossed it over the side of the ship, the long rope unraveled as it plummeted down. The gentlemen grabbed onto the rope and I immediately began pulling him up. He was light so it wasn't a strain to lift him.

I helped him onto the deck and settled him onto his feet. He coughed and began to wring his wet hair out. I noticed he was slightly shivering and his teeth were chattering. He grabbed the towel I had in my hands and dried off as quickly as he could.

"The water's so dreadfully cold it'd make a dead man feel warm." He said jokingly, but I didn't find it too humorous. I felt bad for having had him jump in; but honestly, swimming wasn't one of my strong points.

"I'm…sorry." I said apologetically, avoiding his sharp golden eyes.

"For what? It's no problem really." He said genuinely.

"But …" I began, only to be silenced by Armand's finger over my lips.

"I am fine, understand?"

I nodded my head and he removed his finger. He quickly dressed and applied his wig while I continued to look out.

"So what's next?" he said after he finished dressing.

"Well, we need to find an escape boat and lower it down until it's slightly above the water." I said. If the boat was disconnected from the ship ahead of time, then it'd be left behind as the ship continued to move.

"Off to the escape boats I presume?"

"Yes. Normally they're located on the side of the ship in the center. We should go." I said.

We walked back to where the lively entertainment was roaring and I couldn't help but glance over at the band playing. They were really good and played my favorite genre of music. We strolled along the deck, arm in arm, enjoying the sight of the dark seas. The part of the ship that housed the escape boats came upon us and we broke our embrace to peer over the side. They were bright red in color and quite sizable, but unfortunately, the boats appeared to be suspended in the air by metal rods. It looked like it was electronically controlled, meaning we wouldn't be able to disengage it.

"Fuck." I hissed out. Armand didn't understand our predicament and gave me a questioning glance.

"A problem?" he asked, brow raised.

"We can't lower the boat. It's conducted electronically." I said distressed. I sighed in frustration and crossed my arms. I needed to think of something quick. Now where would the controls be? The obvious answer would be the captains hold where most of the ships functions were. But how to get in there? I pondered the possibilities and decided that knocking them out would be the most effective method. Although I did have a gun with me, shooting them would be a waste of ammo.

I didn't know much about ships, but when I traveled by boat for business trips, the location of the control room was always close to the bow. I walked in the direction were the ship narrowed, followed by the blond-wigged gentleman.

"So, what's the plan?" he asked, trying to catch up to me. My pace was rather fast, probably due to my anxiousness.

"I'm going to try and incapacitate them." I responded. "I don't know how effective I'll be in my current state, but I should still be able to take them down. If I can't do it, then my last resort is my gun."

He nodded his head in understanding. After maneuvering through the sizable crowd once again, we finally made it to the control room. I could clearly see how many people were inside due to the structure being mostly glass; only three, including the captain. I honestly hoped I could take them all down. The past weeks of malnutrition and abuse had taken a toll on my body and I knew I wasn't at my full potential. I would have to rely on speed and take them down quickly.

"Do you think you can do it, take them all down?" Armand asked skeptically.

"I think so." I responded. I walked up to the control room and lifted up my hand to knock on the door. I glanced back over my shoulder to make sure Armand was ready. He nodded, and I proceeded to knock on the door. It open and man in a white uniform opened the door. "Yes, how may…"

I was upon him immediately. My elbow connected with his forehead, causing him to stumble backward. I then rushed into the room and swung at the falling man, my fist hitting him in the side of his head, but it was a blow that lacked the necessary strength to knock him down. The man in uniform grunted at the pain and stepped back away from me. I charged him again, this time hitting him twice consecutively in the same spot. He collapsed at that, but the other two men were on high alert. They were both dressed in the same uniform and wore a naval caps embellished in gold. I darted toward the second man with the same tactic but he was a much bigger man than the first. My fist collided with his head but my strength wasn't in it. He did hiss at the pain but quickly regained his stance. The other third man eyed me cautiously and stood by his comrade.

I charged the second man again, aiming for his forehead. I struck him once before the other made an attempt to grab me. He was slow in his movements and I was able to dodge him and continue to punch the second man. It seemed like no matter how many times I hit him, he wouldn't fall. My knuckles were aching now and since I didn't have my gloves to protect my hands, I figured they'd bruise later. The man tried to fight back but I dodged every one of his punches and countered with one of my own. As the third man tried to lunge after me again, lifted my arm and elbowed him in the face. He grabbed his face and cried out at the pain. Turning my attentions back to the other guy, I stuck him in the side of the head with as much force as I could muster and he finally fell. Acting quickly, I gave the third a roundhouse kick to the face and he hit the wall before he collapsed onto the floor. Once they were all unconscious, I fell to my hands and knees, exhausted.

It had taken a lot more out of me to beat them than I thought. Unfortunately, I had overestimated my strength and now my body was paying for it. My lungs ached and I couldn't seem to breathe properly. I began to cough violently, my chest aching in pain as I did. Armand rushed in and quickly knelt by my side. He placed his hand on my back and began to rub back and forth.

"Just try to breathe." He coaxed soothingly.

I did as was instructed and tried to breathe easy. I took slow deep breaths until I was regular, though the slight ache in my chest still remained. With the help of Armand, I rose to my feet. He wouldn't release me until he was sure I could stand on my own.

"I'm fine, thank you." I said assuredly.

"You sure?" he asked, worry and concern etched onto his features.

I nodded my head and he let me go. Stepping over the fallen bodies, I went to the controls and quickly scanned for a button that looked like it correlated to the escape boats.

"Armand, help me over here. I don't know how long they'll be unconscious for so we need to make haste."

"Right." The gentleman said promptly. We scanned over the various colored buttons for several minutes until I came across one that looked like it pertained to our situation. The word, "eject" was written on it and it was the only one that seemed right. Without second guessing myself, I hit the button and it immediately began flashing. I raced outside with Armand to see if we received the desired effect.

I was very glad to see a whole array of escape boats had fallen into the water. Armand smiled and patted me on the back in praise. "Good work there Tseng."

"Now we have to find Jiao." I stated promptly.

"I think the infirmary is located on the middle deck. I remember passing it when I was looking for you."

I nodded and proceeded to go in the direction he was headed. The infirmary was located at the very end of the corridor of the middle deck and we entered casually. A receptionist greeted us with a smile as we approached the front desk. Her blue eyes shone with honesty sincerity.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" she asked.

Armand cleared his throat before he spoke. "We're here to see a friend of ours? His name is Jiao."

She turned to her computer and typed rapidly. A frown formed on her lips and I caught the slightest flicker of panic in her eyes. My Turk intuition rang like a bell in my head. I had a feeling this woman was about to do something that could halt our progress. She tried to keep a straight face but I saw through her false facade.

"I'm sorry, visiting hours don't start for another ten minutes. You'll have to wait." She said, her voice wavering. I stared at her for a moment and noticed her hand moving underneath the desk. Acting quickly, I pulled out my gun in a fluid motion and aimed it right at her face. Her eyes widened in fear and her mouth formed an 'O' shape in shock. I knew from experience that usually a distress button was kept on the underside of the desk. She had been about to press it before I pulled out my weapon.

"Place both your hands on the desk, now." I commanded.

She didn't move, seemingly immobilized. Armand moved closer to me, a worried look on his face. I was had come to the realization that he didn't care to much for guns.

"Um Tseng, what are you doing?" he questioned.

I ignored him and concentrated on the woman. She had tears forming in her eyes and I could see her hand quivering. Clearly she was debating on whether to call for help or not.

"Put your hands on the desk." I ordered more sharply, removing the safety on the weapon. I didn't want to shoot her, only scare her. The receptionist bit her lip and stared at the barrel of the gun that I had aimed at her. Suddenly, she let out a terrified scream and slammed the button underneath. I swore out loud and immediately went into action. I hopped over the desk and pushed the receptionist to the side. She curled into a ball in the corner, muttering the words "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," over and over again.

Wasting no time, I looked through what she had pulled up on her computer. The patients and hospital room assignments were listed and I quickly searched for Jiao's name. It was then that I saw the reason for her suddenly alarm. A bright red X was next to his name with the post _"If this patient is requested by anyone other than staff members, call for assistance immediately."_

A smirk graced my face at that. Obviously Pero Donte or Faire had taken the precaution of alarming the staff here, if I ever were to come for Jiao. After I had memorized his room assignment, I hopped back over the desk; the mumblings of the woman still went on. I could already hear the footsteps of the guards coming down the halls. I swore out loud and quickly revised my strategy.

"Okay Armand, change of plans." I said as I grabbed him and tossed him over my shoulder fireman's style.

"Tseng! What are you doing?" he snapped, mostly out of embarrassment instead of anger.

"I'm sorry Armand but you can't run as fast as me. You'd slow us down." I said, offering a quick response.

I rushed out the infirmary and bounded down the hall. The guards were coming at us with their guns with obvious intent. I dashed down the hall as fast as I could with Armand's lightweight form over my shoulder. I pushed through the crowds of people that lined the halls, though most moved out the way once they say I had a gun. My plan was to get to the upper deck, toss Armand over board onto an escape boat and then go back and get Jiao and the same thing. If I succeeded then I'd just jump overboard after I rescued Jiao and wouldn't have to activate the bomb. I raced up the stairs, shooting a look over at Armand to see how he was faring. His eyes were closed and his teeth were gritted together but he seemed fine otherwise.

Once I made it to the upper deck, the wind immediately whipped off my wig and unraveled my long dark locks. As vain as I was about my hair, I actually wanted to just lop it off as it whisked around my face, several stands obstructing my view. I could still make out where I was and ran down toward the opposite end with my gun aimed at my pursuers. Unfortunately they were gaining on me and my pace had slowed considerably from when I had left the infirmary. Back then, Armand didn't seem as heavy, but now I felt like I was carrying two of him. My lungs were burning and it caused me to cough. I coughed a lot when I ran a few miles on the track but that was deemed, "a runners cough". What I felt now was my head pounding and my throat constricting. I was coughing up phlegm and it was getting stuck in my throat. I spat out what I could but the pain in my chest seemed to intensify. I decided it was now or never. I started shooting at them to widen the distance between us. Each bullet hit its desired target, followed by the sound of a body falling to the ground. The fearful screams of those I passed rang in my eardrums. Frightened escorts clutched desperately to their clientele, urging them to recede to the lower deck.

The last escape boat came into to view and I fired my last shot before I stopped right above it. I pulled Armand off me and tossed him over the side without warning. The boat had a cushion interior just for the purpose of catching people who had to jump so he would land safely. As he was falling I yelled, "Start the boat! I'll be back as soon as I can!"

After he had landed, I darted down the nearest stairway to the middle level. The halls had cleared considerably the next time around and it was relatively easy for me to run though them without the crowd. The guards still pursued me but I was a great distance away from them, giving me a 30 second lead. The infirmary soon came upon me and I rushed in and down the hall where the hospital rooms were. Jiao's room was 47 and I charged in his assigned room.

The young Wutaiian woke up startled and confused, his dark eyes drifted open and directly towards the door. "Wha?" he mumbled out. I didn't have time to explain so I picked him up bridal style and ran out the room. His arms slipped around my neck though he hung on loosely.

"Is…is this really happening?" he asked. He seemed out of it and I think it was due to all the painkillers he must have taken. His eyes weren't focusing on me even though he was staring right at me.

"Yes, Jiao." I said evenly. His head rested on my shoulder and he closed his eyes slowly.

It didn't take me long to reach the upper deck, but I was admitted tired from running. My lack of exercise and proper diet left me with less energy. I was running on sheer willpower and the strain was evident. I was not a SOLDIER, and unlike them I would not go into berserk mode whenever my body was on the verge of breaking. I would feel every single ache and pain in my body. My adrenaline had run out a long time ago and I felt like I was running on empty.

The guards were becoming more numerous now and the most recent additions were running faster than ever. Several bodies from the fallen guards served as hurdles that I had to jump over. A pain shot up through my legs every time I jumped and landed on sore feet. I finally reached the spot above the last boat, where Armand was currently waving up from. He had started up the boat and was ready to go. I slowed down to a stop as I reached the railing. Honestly, I didn't even know if I had the strength to lift him up and toss him overboard. I held him in my arms, using the railing as my support.

Jiao then opened his eyes a bit and tried to focus on me, but it was dark and I don't think he could see me like he wanted to.

"Tseng." He managed to get out. "Thanks."

He then gave me a genuinely thankful smile before his eyes closed again. The guards were getting closer which meant my breather was over. With all the energy I could muster, I lifted up the boy and tossed him over. I tried to follow suit and I stepped up onto the railing with the intent of jumping, but never made it. Instead, a group of guards seized me and started to pull me back. I released a feral growl and fought to break free with all my might. It was my rage that gave me temporary strength to fight back. I pierced flesh with my fingers, swung my fist to break bones and used every bit of strength I had left to break free of the men. Once I got loose, I made to jump again but I was again held back, this time by a pistol. I released a wail of pain but quickly pulled back my cry and did not falter when the bullet hit my shoulder blade.

Through my painful haze, I could see a wisp of long blond hair blowing in the wind. A sly grin formed on my opponent's lips as he approached me with a crew of hired men behind him, his lover/brother stood beside him. I quickly pulled out the remote control device, ready to use it until an amused laugh erupted from the blond sociopath's throat. I glared at him and held the device firmly in my hand.

"I guess it was only a matter of time before you did something like this. How very clever of you, Turk." He said slyly.

"It's really too bad I'm going to have you kill you. I wanted to keep you a little longer, but I guess you can never really hold a Turk for too long."

He raised his silver pistol and smiled, exposing his perfect pearly white teeth. Zama, his lover, winked at me as he kissed Faire on the cheek. Blood seeped from my wound but I ignored the pain for now. I returned Faire's smirk with one of my own as I pressed the button that ignited the bomb located underneath the vast ship. The explosion rocked the ship violently, causing most people who had been on deck to fall. I managed to stay grounded, but the explosion had knocked Faire and his lover to the ground.

I actually saw the fear in Faire's jade eyes before the unthinkable happened. After the initial explosion, another one followed, then another and then another, each one more powerful than the next. Flames erupted and chunks of debris fell around me. The screams of passengers in pain or in fear sounded as the explosions became more intense. With all the chaos going around me, I could barely see anything. I couldn't comprehend what was happening. The bombs should have only rocked the ship and caused minor damage, not completely annihilate it.

It was like I was in a nightmare. People were engulfed flames and jumped over the side of the boat hoping to put themselves out. Falling pieces of debris literally crushed people to death. I cursed underneath my breath at the sight and tried to make it to the railing. I peered over the side and couldn't see where Jiao and Armand were. All I could see were chunks of the ship burning on the dark seas.

And then…I couldn't see anything.


	26. Chapter 26

**Beta: Arlene :D  
**

**My bad on lack of updates...expect more soon! Review and thank you!

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**Wonderland Fallout  
**

Reno's POV

The flight to Coast Del Sol was boring and uneventful, though my mind was racing with possibilities both good and bad, mostly bad. What if Tseng had been badly hurt in the explosion? Was he in critical condition? Were we too late? I shook the negative thoughts from my head and glanced over at Rude. He kept his gaze straightforward and hadn't said a word the entire trip. We were close to where the explosion had taken place and as I could see the remnants of the ship even this far out. Burned pieces of metal settled above the water's surface, scattered about like a jigsaw puzzle. One piece there, another over there…would they match up?

Suddenly the damage was revealed to us without warning and a shocked sigh ensued. I was under the perception that the ship was completely destroyed, but remarkably the boat was still partially afloat. Huge parts had been blown off and it more so resembled Swiss cheese, rather than a cruise ship. But somehow it had not sunk…yet. It was definitely sinking, about half the mass of the ship was underwater. I inwardly cringed at the thought of the ship being full when it had exploded.

The rescue teams of Costa del Sol were already on the scene along with the SOLDIER's the mayor had requested; their red rescue boats surrounded the area. I had a mind to land, but I wasn't so sure the fallen ship would hold the helicopter's weight.

"Hey Rude?" I said to my partner and co-pilot. "You think we could land on the deck?"

"I don't think that would be wise." he advised. I scowled at my dilemma and adjusted my headsets.

"What should we do? Just head to Costa?" I asked.

"If Tseng had been on that boat, there's a possibility he could have been moved to the hospitals by the rescue team." He stated, obviously disregarding the other alternative; that he was either dead or hadn't been there in the first place. I wished for the latter.

"Fine." I said, before veering off in the direction of the city.

An hour later, we were greeted by the view of lavish beach houses lined up along the coast line. In the background, large hotels and tourist hotspots stood tall, symbols of the cities' wealth and purpose. But despite the city's reputation as a tourist hotspot, it was also very successful due to its close connection with Shinra. This city allowed for a reactor to be built and received compensation annually. The reactor had been built on the outskirts of town, lest it be an eyesore in the beautiful city.

I visited this city quite often, so I knew where just about everything was. The largest hospital was in the center of the city, but I had to find a place to land. Currently, the beaches were empty and sealed off with yellow police tape so I decided to land there. I knew it was risky to set on soft, uneven earth, but I really didn't have much of a choice. Most of the designated helicopter zones were taken. Plus, I had to be wary of the Turks already here. They were supposed to bring us in and I didn't want to get caught by landing in the obvious helicopter zones.

To my surprise, I landed without difficulty from the shifting sand. I was pretty sure no one would try to steal a helicopter with the Shinra logo on it, so I wasn't too worried about it. I exited and stretched my cramped arms and legs. We had made good time; it was only four o' clock when we arrived.

"Okay Rude, let's go to the hospital." I said, eager to continue my search, but Rude grabbed my suit jacket, halting me.

"Yo! What's up with you, man?" I snapped.

"Just…be cautious Reno and wary of your surroundings." He said, sounding like an old Buddhist monk chastising me. I ripped away from him and adjusted my suit.

"I ain't no rookie! I know what to do, shit!" I snapped.

He shook his head, but proceeded along with me. After we left the beach, we hailed a cab and were soon on our way to the hospital, but traffic was hectic and it would take a while to get there. I sighed in frustration but realized that there wasn't anything I could do about the delay. Bored and extremely disliking silence, I decided to chat it up with my partner.

"Eh Rude, you think Cissnei would really turn us in?" I asked slightly uneasy. He shrugged his shoulders, attention elsewhere as he glanced out the window.

"I think Gun would definitely turn us in, huh?" I said humorously. "Fuck that we've known each other since the Academy, she'd turn us in regardless." Of course I was just joking. Gun was a very strict on Turk principals, but she did have a heart. She'd probably just turn us in with only one broken arm instead of two.

Rude once again nodded in a robotic fashion and I groaned in annoyance. "Come on Rude, at least humor me."

"What Reno?" he responded.

"You seem out of it." I commented.

He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Just a little tired I suppose."

Hell, I was probably just as tired, but my desire to see Tseng overcame my physical needs. I could feel the tension in my joints and I'm sure I looked like shit, but I couldn't rest just yet. For some unexplained reason, I felt that time was limited, like if we didn't keep on the move we'd somehow lose him. Call it Turk intuition, but I felt like time wasn't on our side.

"I'm sorry, Bro. Ya think ya can bare with it for a bit longer?" I asked concerned.

"Of course." He said matter-of- fact. I patted him on his shoulder before relaxing back into my seat.

We made it to St. Jermaine's hospital soon enough and paid the cabbie. I stretched out my arms and viewed the building with definite approval of the architecture. Even though it was a hospital, it more so resembled a resort instead of the typical hospital. We entered and headed right for the front desk. The receptionist immediately recognized us and a wide smile of familiarity grace her thin lips.

"Well hello again, Reno, Rude." She said politely. "It's nice to see you guys actually walk in here without injury to your person."

I leaned casually over her desk. "So…I heard ya'll holdin' a lot of ship explosion victims here, eh?"

"Indeed. We're just about booked full and our intensive care ward is packed solid." She said, slight grimace in her tone.

"I see. Um…"I trailed off in thought momentarily before speaking again. "Ya think we could have a look around. We're here to ask the victims some questions in light of our investigation."

A strange look crossed her soft features and her head cocked to the side, perplexed. "I know, aren't you here with the other Turks?"

I swore and tossed a glance at Rude over my shoulder. The corners of his mouth quirked up briefly, obviously this was news to him as well.

"They're here? Like, right the fuck now?" I asked, making a poor effort of keeping my concerns hidden.

"Yes. That's why you're here right?"

"Ah…yeah." I said, chewing my bottom lip. Damn Turks, I thought.

"You want me to call them down or…"

"No!" I snapped out, causing her to draw back. "Actually, we'll go up to meet them, yea."

"Alright then." She said wary, but buzzed us in anyway.

"Thanks Diana." I said, whilst Rude nodded to her. After we entered, I sighed and pressed my back to the wall. We were in quite the predicament now. If we were spotted by the other Turks, they could turn us in, which meant our search for Tseng would be on hold indefinitely. I wondered just how long the Turks had been here and how many people they'd spoken to. If they'd been here long enough, then surely they would have come across Tseng if he were in the hospital, right? I didn't have my phone so I couldn't call them and get updated.

A thought popped in my head and I stood up and started to run down the hall. Rude followed, but at a much slower pace. He was quite used to my spontaneous ways and my sudden outburst seemed like an everyday occurrence. After going down several halls, I finally found what I was looking for. A standard phone was mounted on the wall and I yanked it off the hook and placed it against my ear in anxiousness. Quickly, I rummaged through my pockets, hoping to find some loose change. I pulled out a few coins and slipped them into the slot until I heard the dial tone.

I dialed the number I had committed to memory and took a deep breath. It wasn't out of nervousness, only that I was moving so fast I need to take a breath. I could see Rude leaning against the wall further down the hall, most likely on the lookout for some other Turk. The phone began to ring and the other picked up on the third ring.

"Yes." The other said, slightly cautious of my unknown call.

"Hey yo, Rufus. It's me." I said, a grin crept onto my face though the other couldn't see it.

He released a relieved sigh, as if expecting me or someone else. "Reno…" he paused for a moment before speaking again. "Where are you?" he asked.

"Ain't you in prison or sumthin?" I teased. He laughed briefly in amusement.

"If you mean sitting on my couch in my nice spacious living room, then yes. I'm on house arrest."

"I see. Well I'm sure you know of our situation right?"

"Of course renegade." He said amused. "But why are you calling me? You need something?"

"Some info yea. Can ya tell me anything that's been happening with the Turks?"

"Sure. As you know my father divided the Turks on the account of two separate tasks. One group is in Costa, where Gun is leading the investigation of the ship explosion. The other, led by Cissnei, is investigating the bombing of the bridge and the case of the missing bomb. So far, Group one has discovered that the ship seemed to be doubling as an upscale brothel and stolen goods transport. They found bits and pieces of Shinra made explosives washed up on the beach."

I listened carefully, taking in all he said. "What about the investigation Cissnei's leading?"

"They've been able to trace the hacker to someone within Shinra compounds, but that's all." He said evenly.

"Mm…someone in the building huh? Well…"

The familiar sound of a female voice echoed down the hall and my eyes widened in alarm. Rude reached me just as Gun turned the corner, Two Guns right beside her. I hung up the phone unceremoniously and entered into the nearest bathroom, Rude close behind me. Quickly, I entered a stall and Rude the next one over. The bathroom door opened and I could hear the person's shoes echo across the tiled floor. I breathed low, lest they hear me. Peeking out of a slit on the side of the door, I saw a flicker of blond hair and knew we were in deep shit if we got caught. Now I really had to be cautious. Gun was very observant, noticing the slightest shift in the air.

She turned on the water and I let out a soft sigh, letting the noise drown it out. I bit my lip, waiting anxiously as she washed her hands; at least I assumed that's what she was doing. The water ran for more than a minute and I suddenly realized that something was off. No one washed their hands for over a minute of two, which was more than excessive. I peered out the slit again and noticed she was gone, but the water was running. Tricky bitch, I swore under my breath and tapped at the stall next to me.

He tapped back and I whispered as low as I could, "let's get the fuck out of here." He tapped in consensus and we both exited our stalls. The water was still running and I did a quick survey of my surroundings. No Gun in sight.

"She must have left to get the others." Rude said.

"We can't leave out the way we came." I added. "The window?" I pointed to the glass with my thumb and Rude nodded. We rushed over and pushed the window up. Rude slipped out first, and I got out just as the door to the bathroom slapped open.

"Go, Go!" I yelled at my partner.

"Stop Reno!" Gun ordered, as the Turks rushed in behind her.

I hopped down and broke out into an all out run. Rude was a few feet in front of me, and I followed him. Behind us, the Turks were jumping from the window and running after us, guns aimed. I sped up and caught up with Rude.

"Where we gonna go?" I yelled out through breaths.

He didn't respond and kept running. I assumed that meant he had someplace in mind and continued at his direction. The road was getting closer and it was then that Rude pulled out his weapon, a semi-automatic pistol. He shot at a car passing by, taking great care to aim high above the drivers head. The car came to a halt and we took action. He yanked the man from his care and I opened the passenger side.

"Sorry about this." My partner muttered apologetically to the frightened man before entering. The Turks had gained up on us and were firing at the car. I ducked low and Rude slammed on the gas. The vehicle went into motion and I looked back at the Turks dissipating in the back ground. Guns fierce blue eyes had been locked onto our stolen vehicle, no doubt memorizing the license plate number. Looks like we couldn't keep this one too long.

"Man that bitch is psycho. I love her though." I said through a sly grin. "Ya know she's the one helped refine my shot."

"We need to figure out what to do next." He said in a sharp tone, obviously not wanting to fuck around.

"Well, we can't go back to the hospital, but I doubt he's there anyway. They would have found him by now…and he's a pretty recognizable person, the staff would have known immediately it was him, right?" I said seeking reassurance.

Rude nodded his head. "We've dealt with the Mayor and people of this city for so long, I'm sure they would have recognized him."

"Damn it." I bit out. It seemed like we were back to square one again. Fuck! I hated this! I hated being so close yet again only to fall back even harder than before. I laced my finger through my red spikes and clenched tight. My heart felt heavy in my chest, like a weight slowly sinking into the pit of my gut. As we rode on heading to god knows where, I honestly felt like shedding a tear. Time. That's all I kept thinking about. I still couldn't shake the feeling that we didn't have much time but I had no idea where to start looking for him. He could be anywhere, and this time I had no leads.

_I'm sorry Tseng…I'm so sor__ry. _I kept repeating in my head over and over again until my whole being felt dull and tired. We were driving past the beach as the sun was setting. Hues of orange, purple, gold and pink meshed together to form Sunset, yet I could not even appreciate this. All colors looked bleak and gray, as well as the outcome of this mission.

"Let's go home, Rude." I finally said. He nodded his head and switched to the exit lane. I couldn't see his expression but his lips quirked down momentarily in disappointment.

_I f__ailed you…I'm sorry. _It was taking everything in my power to hold back the tears that burned in the corner of my eyes threatening to fall. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Was this how it ended? Was our mission really over? I thought so, though I really didn't want to believe it. The thought of looking for Faire again was a thought, but that would take time and he could be halfway across the world for all we knew. We'd reached a dead end and it seemed like it was for real this time. I wouldn't know where to pick up or where to start.

I opened my eyes and saw we were close to where we had landed our helicopter. He parked in a nearby parking lot and we both exited in silence, failure looming over us like thunder clouds. We crossed the vast expanse of sand in the direction we landed. It was only until we reached the ocean that we realized that we'd past the spot where our damn ride should have been. I glanced at Rude and we both knew immediately that the Turks had confiscated our helicopter. I didn't see any of them around the beach and assumed that they had taken it earlier. Now we were stuck here, which was most likely their plan in the first place. Rude adjusted his shades and stared at the falling sun, as the last tidbits of light submerged. I sat on the soft sandy beach and looked up at the darkening sky.

_I still love you. _I mouthed soundlessly, hoping that wherever he was, he had somehow heard me. It was silent around us, save for the calming sounds of the ocean. I don't know how long we were there; it seemed like time stood still whilst I stared out into the watery distance. I rose up and started to walk along the coastline, the active water nicked at my shoes. Rude walked beside me, the light of the moon illuminated his shades, while shadowing the contours of his face.

We walked in silence for quite some time, nearly an hour. The landscape of the beach had changed drastically. Jagged rocks protruded from the ocean and the sand. It was very secluded, most of the rocks formed small cliffs that one would be inclined to jump off if there weren't dangerous points jutting out from the ocean. The dark waters seemed roughed over here as well, slamming into the rocks with mighty force.

As we walked, I noticed an odd black mass of something lying a distance away. Curiosity peaked; I walked over to examine what it was. It was dark, but the moon's bright glow aided my sight enough that I could make it out to be an inflatable boat turned upside down. I tossed a look Rude, wondering if I should mess with it. He shrugged his shoulders and I took it as he didn't care. I hit it and my hand bounced off it. Feeling as if I needed a little pick-me-up, I stepped on it and jumped up. I didn't go as high as I thought but it was still a good distance. I used it as a makeshift trampoline and jumped up and down on it. It brought back memories of my Shinra Academy days when Rude and I would sneak out after curfew to jump on the trampolines in the training room. In class, we used them to simulate the jumping ability of a mako enhanced SOLDIER and had to practice jumping and landing. Of course after Rude and I were scouted for Turks, we didn't use that Training room anymore, but every now and then we'd miss the activity and go fool around with it.

I jumped toward the center of the upturned boat and smiled at Rude as I did. "Come on Rude, its fun! Just like old times!" I yelled. He allowed a brief smile at the thought but shook his head in decline. I frowned but continued on without him. When I jumped directly onto the center, I was greatly surprised to feel my feet connect with something solid, followed by a pained wail. Immediately I halted and scurried off of it.

"Whoa." I said lowly. "Did ya heard that Rude?"

He nodded and moved closer to the inflatable lifeboat. He kicked it, prodding. I scratched my head and then crouched down. I gripped the side and very cautiously, lifted it up. It was then that I saw the limp form of a human body. Quickly, with the aid of Rude, we managed to lift the boat off and shove it to the side. The moonlight bathed light on the unknown person, their pale face gleamed. I move closer and knelt down next to them. I pressed my finger to the side of their neck and felt a normal pulse underneath my fingertips.

"I think they may have been a passenger on the ship." I concluded. Rude nodded and stood over the person's form. He peered down for a bit, and then cocked his head to the side...inquiring. Whipping off his shades, he placed them into his suit jacket before kneeling down. Seeming anxious, he carefully lifted up the person's head and pushed their hair to the side. He stared at the person, eyes scanning over their features.

"Um…Rude?" I asked…peering at him strangely. "What'ca doing, man?"

He ignored me and kept looking at the other's face. His eyes then lifted and he stared down, examining the rest of the body. After a few moments, he sighed and placed the stranger's head back on the sand.

"What's up?" I asked curiously.

He sighed once more and shook his head. "It's not him." He said lowly.

"Dude, what the hell you talkin' bout?" I snapped, annoyed by his vagueness.

"Look at his face." he said sharply, countering my own sharp tone. I rolled my eyes and we switched places so I could get a go look at his face. I nearly gasped when I thought it was Tseng, but then I looked more closely and realized he really didn't look like him at all. The face was young like Tseng's, but just a little bit too young. The boy, which I assumed he was, was very lengthy and gangly, in contrast to Tseng's smaller stature. His hair was shorter, but that really didn't matter, anyone could cut their hair. But another diminishing feature was that they boy seemed to be full Wutaiian, unlike Tseng who resembled both races of his parents.

"Well…it ain't him, but what'ca think we should…"

I was cut off by the sound of the boy groaning. We both stared down at him wary, hands on our weapons by instinct. With gritted teeth and a hiss, he slowly opened his eyes. He stared at us blankly, as if trying to figure out who we were.

"Armand?" the boy whispered out. I exchanged confused looks with Rude before addressing the young one.

"Um…I'm Reno…and this is Rude. You alright, kid?"

He sat up slowly, eyes peering around at his surroundings. I noticed his clothes consisted of very little, but not scandalously so. He was wearing a hospital gown that clung to his damn skin. His long pale fingers laced into his shoulder length dark locks and he took a deep breath. He then turned his attentions to us, his eyes cautious of our beings. When he didn't speak, I took it upon myself to entice him to talk.

"What's yer name?" I asked, taking off my suit jacket and draping it over his shivering form.

He nodded in thanks and pulled the jacket closer, seeking its warmth. "Jiao." He said so low I barely heard him.

"What?" I asked again.

"My name is Jiao." He repeated.

"Oh…okay, um…?" I glanced over at Rude hoping he'd know what to do. He shrugged his shoulders and cleared his throat.

"Are you hurt?" he asked evenly. "Do you feel any pain?"

"No." he said lowly, before he lowered his head. The boy didn't speak after that, just stared down at the sandy ground as if in a trance. I scratched my head and stood up, Rude following my actions. We walked a little bit a ways away from the boy so he couldn't hear us.

"What's up with that kid, man?" I asked, looking back over my shoulder at his slumped form.

"Well he might have just nearly lost his life not so long ago, and you and I both know the effect a near death experience can have on one." He said compassionately.

"Yeah I know, but I don't think that's the problem. I mean, I know when I have a close call, I'm just happy to be alive the next second, ya know. This kid ain't got no relief, and he seems almost sad." I looked back at Jiao, and saw his cheeks were glistening in the moonlight.

"Ya see?" I said to Rude, proving a point.

He sighed and scratched his chin thought. "Fine then, go talk to him. See what's wrong with him."

I nodded and made my way back over to the silently crying boy. I sat down next to him and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. My touch seemed to snap him out of his trance, though he didn't look at me. He drew up the borrowed jacket up on his shoulders, eyes down cast and full of grief. Had he lost someone? Suddenly he sneezed and used the sleeve of my jacket to wipe the excess. I bit my lip to stifle the urge to say "Just go ahead and keep the damn thing."

Instead, I went with, "Ya wanna tell me what happened?"

He wiped his tear stained cheek and rubbed his eyes in an attempt to stifle his tears, but all that did was clean the canvas for more paint. The silent tears still fell and he couldn't seem to stop, not that I wanted him to. Sometimes a good cry could help sate the soul…temporarily at least.

"I…lost my friends." He said as more tears fell across his wet cheeks.

"Your friends? Were they on the ship when it exploded?" I asked him.

He nodded and then shook his head. His contradictory answer threw me for a loop but then he look up at me to explain further.

"My friend and I were on the lifeboat when the ship went up in flames. Our other companion was still on board and the explosion had rocked us a bit. My friend in the life boat with me revved up the engine and then we were going at top speed away from the burning mass. But then he said, "I won't be gone for long" before he dived into the waters and headed back to the burning ship. I didn't know what to do. Part of me was glad he was going back to try and save the man who had saved me so many times before and I thought of going with him, but then the cowardice side of me held me at bay. I feel as if it's all may fault. And now I don't even know if they're alive or…"

He cut off and turned away from me. His accounts were very peculiar but believable. The boy had no reason to lie to me so I thought him truthful. I placed my arm around him in comfort and pulled him closer.

"Listen kid, Ima tell ya something I've learned from experience." I said with a grin. He looked up at me with curious eyes.

"A man like your friend is the type that doesn't die easily and he knows it. Unlucky guys wouldn't have even taken the risk to go back but your man knows his capabilities. He's alright."I said assuredly.

He smiled with his eyes before his lips formed into a joyous crescent. "You really think they're alive?" he asked.

I nodded my head and smiled at him. "Yup, I'm so sure. And if I'm lying, then let me be struck by Shiva's Ice!" I stood up boldly, crossing my arms and puffing out my chest. Rude shook his head at my actions, but otherwise grinned. The boy then let out a soft laugh and my job here was done. I sat back down and ruffled his hair, soft and silky.

"Ya see, Reno Alexander ain't never been so sure in his life!" I said, and he laughed again. He honestly did have a beautiful smile, even in the moonlight.

Even though I was doing this to cheer him up, I was actually building up confidence for myself as well. I had all but given up but now, I thought there was still a possibility he was alive, maybe not well, but alive yes. Tseng was one of the luckiest guy's I ever knew. He's had so many close calls in his life I thought he'd made a deal with the devil, hence the black dot on his forehead. If I could believe Jiao's friend was alive, then so was Tseng. Feeling better than I had all day, I smiled wide and gave Rude a thumbs up. He shook his head but smiled in silent consensus.

"So kid, where you live at?" I asked, hoping maybe we'd be able to pay for his fare home.

"Um…" I could barely see it, but I thought he was blushing. "I…lived on the ship, but my real home is in Wutaii."

I scratched my head at that, thinking. Lived on the ship? Oh! I just remember that it was a whorehouse. I looked at the furiously blushing kid and it all came together quite quickly.

"I see. So you wanna go home to Wutaii ? Rude and I could pay yer fare." I asked. Jiao looked up and shook his head furiously.

"NO!" he yelled loudly, startling me slightly. "I have to stay here in case my friends come back!"

"Okay, okay…easy man. I was just askin'."

His blush deepened out of embarrassment and he looked away. Rude, who had been and earshot away, walked over toward us and sat down next to me. The three of us then sat there on the beach, looking forward at the dark water.

"Um…Reno?" Jiao said.

"Yeah?" I answered, glancing over at his form in the dark, though the whites of his eyes shone through framing the dark iris, bright with intent. He chewed his bottom lip, and fidgeted with his hands in obvious anxiety.

"I...could you…um, well." Jiao mumbled out, fumbling for words. This went on for a few moments and I stared at him as he fumbled for what he wanted to say. The display was kind of cute for the first minute, but I lost patience soon enough. I knew some people were not divinely blessed with charisma like Tseng or Rufus, but everyone should know that no one likes a ring-a-round conversation and this kid was going nowhere fast.

"Kid…what the hell you tryin' to tell me?" I asked, using the last tidbits of my patience to keep my voice level. I wasn't angry with him; I just wish he'd get to the point already.

"Well…I was just wondering…I mean, I know we just met and all and…" he ranted on, fidgeting with his hands more excessively now.

"Damn it, man! Just say it!" I said, slightly annoyed but more humored at the moment. I turned to Rude sitting next to me and leaned over until I was uncomfortably close. He had this whole "Personal space bubble" thing he'd always go on about, but he should know that "personal space" didn't exist in my presence. He shifted uncomfortably and adjusted his shades out of habit whenever someone was in close proximity.

"Eh, Rude."I whispered lowly. "I think this kid's trying to tell me something, but SHIT!" I exclaimed in surprise as Jiao made like a cat and attached himself to my shirt without warning. His forehead pressed against my back as he held me in his grip.

"What in the hell?"

"Please Reno! You have to help me find them! I'm all alone and I can't do it by myself! Please help me!" He tightened his grip on my collared shirt and added pressure on my back with his forehead in his passion.

"They could be dead and…and…I'm just sitting here..."He trailed off into what I assumed was his native tongue. The kid was going onto hysterics so I stood up abruptly, Jiao going up as well due to his iron grip. I turned around rapidly, breaking his hold. He let out a startled yelp when I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. On a side thought, I thought about when my mother would let me hold the little un's when they were babies and she'd say, "Never shake a baby dear or you're shake its brain lose." I felt like I was shaking Jiao with that much force, though I'm sure he wasn't in any immediate danger, but it did silence him.

"Jiao calm down man, shit! I got you, alright. I'll help you find ya crew. Just...calm down alright?"

"Okay. But. Can. You. Stop. Shaking. Me. now?" he said as his head flung back and forth. I released him quickly, and adjusted my top that had become rumpled. He pulled my borrowed blazer up on his shoulders and looked down with embarrassment. I cleared my throat and stood up straight. Rude rose up slowly and stood crossed armed behind me.

"We-" I gestured to myself and Rude. "Will help ya find your buddies if you help us find ours...yeah? Deal?" I asked, my voice dropping an octave lower, surprised that I could sound this calm and well...professional. I was kinda creepin' myself out a little! It seemed to do the trick though, and Jiao visibly relaxed, giving me a nod.

"Yes." He said gratefully, and then added with a faint smile. "Thank you."

I looked out toward the dark ocean with the reflection of the moonlight painted on its dark canvas and nodded, quite pleased with myself. "Well, then, let's get to it yeah?"

* * *


	27. Chapter 27

**Been awhile I know, but I'm back and I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's a little fast paced but I was energetic when I wrote it so it just came out that way. Comments are loved and appreciated :)**

**I apologize in advance if there are errors. My beta could not edit this one :(**

* * *

**Wonderland Fallout **

**Tseng's POV**

I could hear someone calling my name, faintly. They sounded a great distance away, but I knew they had to be right next to me, for I could feel their warmth radiating from them. My name was whispered ever so softly in my ears, and a warm hand laced gently into my hair. As I slowly came to, I realized I was surrounded by water, though I wasn't submerged. I opened my eyes slowly and the destruction was revealed. It was very dark, but numerous tiny cracks in the ceiling made it possible to make out where I was. A huge pillar had pierced through the ceiling and the floor. Huge chunks of debris were scattered everywhere, though I could make out a bed in the corner of the room.

Then suddenly, pain erupted without warning. I gasped for breath at the suddenness and intensity of it. My back arched out of reflex, and I realized very quickly that I couldn't move. I screamed at the blistering pain in my chest and coughed up hot crimson blood. My panic grew exceedingly. Gentle hands suddenly cradled my head and a cooing sound ensued from them. Through a painful haze, I tried to make out just who was trying to console me.

I recognized him immediately, even though he was covered in scraps and bruises and had blood in his hair. I tried to call his name, but I couldn't speak. It was too painful. Tears were falling from my eyes involuntarily at the immense agony. I could feel my left leg was broken, though both my arms remained miraculously intact, except for the gunshot wound.

But my chest...my chest was putting me in almost unbearable pain. I couldn't lift my head up high enough so I couldn't see what damage had been done. I looked up at him with pain in my eyes that I couldn't hide. I tried to convey what I wanted to say with my eyes rather than try to speak just yet. Why was my chest hurting so bad?

His tears fell onto my cheeks as he looked down at me. He had a look of hopelessness and regret on his face which caused me to become more concerned. As if sensing my confusion, he grabbed my hand and slowly moved it up to my chest. My hand encountered something that felt like steel. I looked up at the ceiling and realized that it was a long pipe that I was touching. I followed the pipe with my eyes until I reached the base. My hand ran down the long steel pipe until it came in contact with my body.

My eyes widened in horror at the revelation. The reason my chest was in almost unbearable pain and why the normally optimistic gentlemen had so much despair in his eyes, was because the pipe had pierced me through the left side of my chest. My lung on that side had stopped functioning and the other one was struggling to compensate for the loss. Blood seeped sluggishly from the fatal wound and my heart was beating rapidly, trying to get as much oxygen as possible with a collapsed lung.

I knew the only thing that was keeping me alive was the bit of mako that I had coursing through my veins, otherwise I would have perished shortly after impact. But it would only last so long and my time was limited. All the mako was doing was prolonging my fate. I wrapped my hands around the steel pipe and regarded the dark haired gentleman with unfocused eyes.

"I...I'm so sorry..." Armand said regretfully. His tears streamed down his pale cheeks copiously as he stared at me. "If only I had gotten to you sooner."

I shook my head, as painful as the motion was. I didn't want him to feel like this was his fault because it wasn't. He caressed my cheek with a wet hand and I realized that the water around us was rising.

* * *

**Reno's POV**

We slept on the beach that night and I awoke to the light of the bright ass sun gleaming on my face. I felt very warm, almost uncomfortably so, but it wasn't from the rays of the sun. Knowing I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep with sunlight in my face, I opened my eyes and yawned widely. As I made to sit up, I realized I was being constricted from behind. I glanced over my shoulder and let out a startled yelp once I saw that the kid had his arms wrapped around me and was snuggled against my back.

"What the fuck, man!" I yelled as I broke free of his embrace. Jiao sat up slowly and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He yawned before giving me a sleepy smile.

"Good morning, Reno," he said so casually like he'd known me for my whole fucking life. What the hell was wrong with this kid? Why was he so trusting and touchy feel-ly? I'd just met him and he'd had his arms wrapped around me like were long lost lovers or some shit.

"The hell it is a good morning," I bit back.

He stood up and pulled the jacket I let him have up on his shoulders. "It's chilly this morning," he said clenching the jacket closed.

I glanced out over the horizon and watched the sun rise over the ocean. It was indeed a rare site that I hardly got to see considering I lived and worked in a city of perpetual darkness. The boy stood up next to me, though he watched the sun set with sad eyes. I'd almost forgotten he'd washed up on the shore and got separated from his friends, so seeing the ocean was probably a bitter site for him.

I patted his shoulder and shot him a smirk. "Don't worry. We'll find your friends."

He nodded his head assuredly and smiled at me. "Thanks, Reno."

I was about to respond back when Rude came up from behind me. We both turned to him and he nodded in acknowledgment.

"Where do we go from here?" he asked straightforwardly.

"Well?" I said unsure. I really didn't have a plan or know where to start. I pondered for awhile as I glanced over the ocean.

"Eh, Rude?" I asked as I thought. "You think that ship's completely sunken yet?"

"Not all of it likely, but it will be pretty soon."

I sighed as I turned to them both. "Well, since we're back to square one I guess the best thing to do would be to go back to the last place Tseng was and..."

Suddenly, Jiao let out a shocked gasp and his eyes widened with surprise. I thought he had gotten startled because something or someone was coming behind me so I instinctively ducked.

"What the fuck is it?" I yelled.

Jiao now had tears in his eyes and was the verge of crying. Honestly, I wanted to beat the shit out of this guy for being so damn sensitive all the time but I decided to let it slide since he'd been through hell recently, but there was only so much I could take.

Since there was no apparent danger, I stood back up and stomped over to Jiao. "The hell is wrong wit' you? You damn near gave me a heart attack! I thought my head was gonna be blown off er somethin'! Why are you..."

"You said his name!" he yelled happily.

"Um...I said what?"

"His name! His name!" Jiao said giddily with tears falling.

I glanced over at Rude for a clue, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Kid, you gotta be more specific." I said.

"Tseng!" he yelled loudly and happily. "You said his name!"

Suddenly my heart was racing and my jaw dropped. This kid was saying his name like he knew the guy personally. Maybe he meant another Tseng? I squashed that thought quickly seeing as how I'd never ever met another man named Tseng. Rude looked shocked as well and had glanced at me in conformation of what was just said. I wasn't too sure so I grabbed Jiao and started to shake him out of excitement.

"You said Tseng right? Tseng?" I asked frantically, barely containing my excitement.

"Wait, did you say Tseng?" he asked again.

"Hell yeah I did!" I said, slowly becoming light headed and giddy. He had said it. He knew Tseng, he could help us find Tseng! I was so ecstatic I started jumping up and down with Jiao and we both cheered as loud as we could. Rude expressed joy by releasing a relieved sigh until he suddenly tensed up and grew very serious.

"Reno," he called my name but I barely heard him. Yes we were so close. Closer than we'd ever been in weeks! I started to run around in circles with Jiao exclaiming "Tseng! Tseng!"

I was on cloud nine until a massive fist stopped me on my second go around. I fell back on my ass and hissed at the pain in my gut. My high was still there though it was slowly dissipating after Rude struck me. He didn't look happy, not that he really ever did but if there was a time to show emotion it was now. I found myself highly upset that he wasn't ecstatic over this joyous breakthrough.

"What the fuck is wrong with you Rude? You should be happy!" I snapped.

Rude just shook his head and turned his attention to Jiao, who now appeared to be scared of Rude. He moved behind me for safety, which I honestly wouldn't be able to provide if Rude decided he was going to strike. Rude was strong as fuck and I knew I wouldn't be able to stop him if he wanted to get at Jiao. I doubted he would hurt the kid but I was curious to know what he wanted with him.

"Jiao, how do you know Tseng?" he said straightforwardly.

"Um...well, he was my friend. I met him when we were sold together."

"Was he one of the two friends that you mentioned?" Rude asked, sounding more worried. I was starting to understand why Rude hadn't been celebrating yet. I remember Jiao had said one of his friends had been on the boat when it exploded and the other had went back to try and save the other. I hoped to Gaia that Tseng hadn't been on that ship.

"Yes, he is," Jiao said a little quieter.

"Which one?" Rude and I said simultaneously. I was nervous. If Tseng had been on that boat that could mean one of two things. Firstly, we hadn't found Tseng in the hospital when we first came here so that could mean he was still in the boat or taken somewhere else on a fluke. Or, that he had died when the ship exploded. My heart was racing, and I was on the verge of panic. Both options were horrible, but the latter was most definitely the worst of all the outcomes.

"He was...on the ship..."

Jiao didn't even need to finish. My body was shaking at the thought of Tseng being on the boat when it exploded. We had flown over the wreckage and it was pretty bad. To think he had been on it when the chaos ensued was almost to much to bear. I sunk to my knees at stared at the ocean in a haze.

"Reno...what should we do?" Rude asked seriously as he came up beside me.

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my thoughts. I needed to make a decision and I didn't have time to spare.

"Let's go to the shipwreck, Rude," I said lowly. "I dunno if he is alive but the least we can do is find his body and give him a proper burial."

* * *

**Tseng's POV**

"I'm sorry Tseng," the dark haired gentleman said lowly. "I broke my promise to you."

"N-no," I stuttered, the action of trying to speak was more painful than I had imagined. Regardless of the strain, I felt I had to alleviate the anguish and guilt Armand was experiencing. It was no fault of his own that things turned out like this. Armand shook his head, his tears felt like the sprinkle of rain on my face.

"I was responsible for placing the bomb!" he yelled, suddenly very passionate. More tears fell, though his expression had hardened to one of rage.

"It's my fault this happened!" he said through gritted teeth, eye wide with passion. "Maybe if I had just placed it a bit further on the underside of the boat or...or..."

He paused, closing his eyes as the tears seeped through regardless. I could feel his hand, quivering against the side of my face. As I watched him through progressively blurred vision, I became distressed. The golden eyed gentleman had taken the burden of the failure upon himself, although it was not his fault. Surely unforeseen circumstances had aided in the destruction of the ship. There was just no way a bomb with such limited explosive power had caused such extensive damage. Of course Armand didn't see it as such.

Without warning, I erupted into a vicious coughing fit, spewing a bit of fresh blood. Armand's eyes snapped open in fear. He held me closer, as if I'd slip away if I weren't near him. The fit actually hurt my chest more than anything. My blood held a slight earthy taste, like dirt or grass, which is generally was mako tasted like, though it smelled more like industrial waste once manufactured. The bit of mako I had that was sustaining my life could only do so much to sustain my existence. I wasn't a SOLDIER, who would have probably ripped the pipe out themselves and kept on going. God, they truly were monsters.

The water was rising much faster now, and most of Armand's legs were submerged underneath. I wondered what he would do once the water covered me completely. Would he watch me die, offering comfort until the final moments came? Would he make a last minute attempt to save me? I knew he wasn't strong enough to remove the pipe even with adrenaline. Actually, the only thing I wanted him to do was get out of here safely. He had done everything he could to help me, and for that I was forever grateful.

I had a mind to ask why he, an almost complete stranger, would risk so much to save me? Sure he had a gentleman's code of honor that bound him, but was that it? A gentleman, after he has done all he can, has the right to walk away with his honor intact, but still Armand was here, looking down at me with those brilliant colored eyes. Those eyes that looked so different from Reno's, but held the same captivating intensity. It was a comfort to say the least.

As I laid my head on his lap, I started thinking about my life. I had had a terrible childhood and my adult life wasn't so much better. My father, if he could even be called that, sexually abused my brother and I until I was thirteen. At that time I decided I was going to run away and take my little brother with me. But, he didn't want to go. I begged and pleaded with him to come with me but he didn't want to leave our mother. Since he didn't want to come on his own I forcibly made him leave with me. After school, I grabbed him and told him we weren't going home, ever. He fought, scratched, and bit me until I bled but I was not going to let him go back. By the time we had made it to the outskirts of Junon, my brother was in hysterics. I tried to console him but he wasn't having it. I hadn't known how much he didn't want to go until when I turned my back and he struck me with a blunt object, rendering me unconscious. By the time I had awoken, he was long gone.

I had no money, no food, nothing at all when I left. I was starving after about four days without food or water when a man, a traveler by trade, offered me food and shelter, but at a price. The traveler, named Kautus, let me travel with him for a few weeks, offering me refuge in exchange for oral sex. At this point in my life, I thought that maybe I had been wrong about my father. Maybe he was treating me normally and I was the one who was wrong. The traveler used my body as well, so maybe I was wrong for running away.

Once we arrived in Midgar, I stayed with Kautus who had a small home in the slums and sold his acquired merchandise in wall market. He treated me well. He bought me clothes, gave me my own room and even paid for my schooling. He only asked for fellatio so I thought he was much kinder than my father. Since I looked different from the other children, I only had one friend. A girl named Aerith. She was unique and different from anybody I'd ever met. We were close all the way up to the ninth grade and I even fell in love with her. I remember when I kissed her for the first time, and everything fell apart. I thought it was supposed to be magical, like in the books I'd read but it wasn't like that at all. It didn't feel right and I hated myself for it.

When I asked Kautus about it he told me I was probably gay. I'd heard that term before but never used in a positive context, so I grew even more depressed. At fourteen, I wanted to end my miserable life but I couldn't bring myself to commit suicide so I enlisted in the Shinra Army. I figured, I'd rather die in battle than by my own hand. But my goal worked against me rather than helped me. I didn't care if I lived or died so I took the risks that no one wanted to take. I studied hard so I could advance quickly and make it into SOLDIER. That way I'd be able to accomplish my goal sooner, but someone was onto my game. Verdot somehow knew I didn't care about my life and he recruited me for the Turks against my will.

I was very antisocial and unpleasant to be around, but Verdot said he still liked me anyway. At fifteen, I had gotten a new roommate who was loud, obnoxious and a downright slob. He was born and raised in the slums and he acted as such. Even though I had lived in the slums for awhile, I still considered myself better than him. But I was soon knocked off my pedestal when I realized he was an unconventional genius. He never studied and still managed to pass his classes. His field work was exceptional and he would always beat me when we fought, which happened a lot. Reno and I were like a serpent and a mongoose. Whenever we were around each other for too long we'd end up at each others throats. Reno kicked my ass for awhile, but I trained hard and when I finally beat him, I realized that it was because of him that I'd become a better student.

Reno was the first person that I ever had an erotic dream about. I was sixteen and I had slowly come to terms that I thought he was attractive but to actually have a dream about him made me upset. The year before I had witnessed the death of two Turks that had fallen in love and I had swore that I'd never end up like them, but Reno was making it hard to keep my promise and eventually I broke it all together and fell in love with him.

And even now, here I was on the hour of my death still thinking of him towards the end. The water levels were rising and I couldn't hear much of anything; my vision was starting to fail me as well. It felt like I was watching a film reel of my life, but the film was staring to break up. I saw my mother, lovely and blond; she uses sign language to tell me she loves me. My father smirked at me and gave me a wink before my little brother entered my failing vision. I saw a glimpse of everyone I'd met over the years that was significant and then the film started to catch fire when it gets to Reno. He is my last thought before the water reached the tips of my ears.

"Tseng!" I heard Reno say as my visions of him began to increase.

Armand looked up and then started yelling something. It sounded very muffled, and I did not understand. I could barely see, but I could feel the water moving frantically around me. I heard a scream and I weakly turned my head to see flames of red entering my fading vision. I think this must be the end as the figure stands over me.

"God?" I whispered out.

The being shook its head and then responded, "Sorry bossman...wrong guy. Try again though, ya?"

* * *

**Reno's POV**

Rude and I left Jiao behind and used the safety boat he used to head out towards the ship. It took about an hour but we eventually made it. It was a sight to behold. The massive vessel was more then three-fourths sunken, though the deck still remained above water. There were only two rescue boats around, so I assumed the search was over, but not for us. We pulled up to the side of the boat and used a ladder to climb up to the wreckage up top. It looked even worse up close.

"Shit man," I swore, "Where the hell do we start?"

"First level," he responded evenly.

I nodded and looked around for a staircase that was intact. We eventually found one, and raced down it. We searched what we could of that level, calling out to Tseng and hoping he would respond. We searched in every single room on that floor and came up with nothing. I looked at Rude and nodded. We needed to go down another level. We searched level two and found nothing. I was starting to get discouraged but then I heard a faint sound coming from a level lower. Rude had heard it to and we raced toward the direction of the sound. The third level, unlike the first two was flooded pretty badly. I was in water up to my shins.

"Tseng!" I called again.

"Help me!" a voice said. We raced toward it and I heard the sound coming from underneath a huge piece of debris. Rude and I lifted it up together and pulled the person out. To my distress it wasn't Tseng, but the victim was a young boy who was badly hurt. Rude picked up the boy and he immediately passed out in Rude's arms.

"Come on, keep looking!" I said.

I called out as loud as I could to Tseng and hoped for a response or something. Rude followed close behind with the limp boy in his arms, searching frantically as he did.

"Here! Over here!" I heard another voice respond. They couldn't speak very loud so I couldn't get a read on their location.

"One more time!" I yelled.

"Bloody hell! Over here!" they responded.

I raced in the direction I heard the voice and it led me into a room that was severely damaged. I maneuvered through the debris until I saw a figure kneeing in the rising water. I couldn't tell if it was male or female but they did have dark hair and that was enough initiative for me.

"Almost there!" I called out.

"Please hurry! I have a dying man here!" he said hoarsely.

The rescue team sure did a shit job. We were finding people left and right. When I finally reached the kneeling person, I had meant to ask what their situation was but time stood still once I laid eyes on him.

I couldn't think. Couldn't breathe. He looked dead...just...so lifeless. I called out to Rude who came rushing as fast as he could to my side with a wounded man in his arms. Even he couldn't believe what he was looking at.

This couldn't be happening, I thought as I lace my fingers into my hair in shock. This was worse than anything I could have imagined. Rude placed the boy down on the bed and went over to my side. Tears poured from my eyes as I stared down at his lifeless body. His long dark hair looked like spilled ink around his head; his skin a sickly pale color.

I knelt down next to him and made to touch his face, but I couldn't. I couldn't touch him. What if I didn't feel a pulse? I just couldn't face that possibility yet, just like I couldn't look at the long steel pipe that was embedded into him. It was just to gruesome a fate.

I hovered over him and was shocked to see him blink, every so slowly. He turned his head and looked up at me with unfocused eyes. God, he called me, and I was just so grateful that he was alive that all I could do was smile at him.

"Reno, we have to pull this out," Rude said.

I nodded without taking my eyes off my boss, for fear that he just might slip away. Rude and I wrapped our hands around the pipe and I looked to the golden eyed stranger who I assumed must be the one who went back for our leader and the love of my life. This man would forever have my undoubted respect and admiration.

"Can you make sure he doesn't accidentally bite through his tongue when we pull this out?" Which sometimes occurred accidentally if a person was in extreme pain.

"Yes," he responded.

I exchanged glances with Rude before we used all our might to pull the pole out. We didn't know how deep it was, but we knew we couldn't pull it out to quickly or we might cause more damage to him. The pipe was heavier than I thought, and if Rude hadn't been here I didn't think I would have been able to remove it by myself. Throughout all this, Tseng had not made a vocal response at the blistering pain I knew he had to be in. Instead, he just remained open mouthed though no sound was emitted. It was like he was in so much pain he couldn't even express it.

As the pipe started to move, I got a better view of the damage. Though the pipe had impaled him, it was mostly concentrated on the leftmost side. I cringed as the metal started to scrap against the bones of his shattered ribcage.

Finally, we removed the the last length of the pipe from him. I rushed over to Tseng and gathered him in my arms. He coughed up blood as I cradled him in my arms. We needed to get him help as soon as possible. I was surprised he hadn't gone into shock yet. Then again, I was pretty sure he was using up the last bits of his mako reserve. As much as I wanted to use a curaga on him, I could not. He needed to have his bones set and possibly a lung transplant. The magic would not mend him correctly in this condition and he'd be in even more pain.

"Shit! Rude lets go!'" I yelled. He grabbed the wounded boy and we made our way out with the golden eyed man right on our tail. I moved as fast as I could through water up to my knees. Blood from his wound soaked my shirt and I grew even more panicked.

_Please don't die, Tseng. Stay with me._

Once we made it to the deck, I wasted no time calling to the rescue team over as loud as I could. I looked down at Tseng and caressed his wet cheek and whispered my true feelings to him. I didn't know if I would ever get the chance to say it to him but I had to let him know before it was too late.

"Just know that I love you," I said. I kissed his cheek, not caring who was looking. He opened his eyes a bit and looked up at me through hooded eyes. I wasn't really expecting him to react in his current state, but I sure as hell didn't expect what happened next. He couldn't speak so he mouthed the words I had longed to hear. I pulled him closer and smiled against his cold, clammy cheek.

The next thing I knew the rescue crew took him from my arms. I watched as they lowered him down to their medical boat and began their procedure. High winds whirled over our heads and I looked up only to be greeted by several Shinra helicopters. The side doors opened and infantry men aimed their guns at us.

"Eh, Rude?"

"Yes, Reno?"

"I fucking hate Shinra."

"Yeah, so do I."


	28. Chapter 28

**Double update as an apology for my lack of updates. Sorry all :(**

* * *

**Wonderland Fallout**

Tseng's POV

"Son, I know you're in there. Now come out the bathroom. It's time for bed."

I shook my head, even though he could not see me. I had long since bathed, but I wasn't ready to go to bed yet. Currently, I was drawing in my notebook with a blue pen. A big smile graced my face as I sketched my favorite person in the whole world, even if he didn't live in this one. I just knew he and that place had to be real, for it seemed so very real when I was there. I could see it now: a large blue Wutaiian style palace that sat atop of a mountain. In the center of the palace was a lovely garden that was filled with flowers, but only blue and red ones. Any other colors were too feminine.

I sketched out his handsome feline face and drew the dark blue and gold armor he wore. He was the king of the land, but he was also a fierce warrior.

"Blue Cat, My Lord," I said out loud as I finished the drawing. I giggled with glee once my work was finished, but a loud bang on the door jolted me out of my joy as quickly as it had come.

"My son, it is time for bed and you must take your medicine," my father informed from the other side of the door. I shook my head. I hated taking the medicine; it was the only thing that kept me from going to the Land of Blue Cat. The female doctor had said what I was seeing wasn't there and that I was needed to take pills to make the "visions" stop. They did make me unable to go to my wonderland, but that didn't mean it wasn't real.

The door suddenly flew open and I screamed. My father came in and grabbed me by my waist. I gripped the drawing like my life depended on it.

"Mother! Mother! Help me, please!" I pleaded desperately as my father took me to my bedroom. A slight grin formed on his lips as he tossed me onto the full sized futon I shared with my younger brother, Zhao. He was already hiding under the blankets; I could see his long dark hair spill over the side of the bed. I called out for my mother again and my father shut the door, very loudly. Not as if it mattered.

"Oh my son," he said deeply, his tone full of false sorrow. "Do you not know your mother cannot hear you? She has never and will never hear that soft voice of yours."

He pulled two pills out of his pocket and I drew back. Besides the effect the medicine had, it was the way he administered them that I hated.

"But do not feel bad, for she has not heard my voice either," my father said as he moved to sit down next to me on the bed. I drew back closer to my brother who was already trembling underneath the blankets. Just then, he noticed the paper I was clutching in my hand and snatched it away from me. I tried to grab it back, but he stood up and flipped on the lamp beside my bed. He smirked, followed by a deep chuckle as he looked at my picture.

"This guy again, hmm?" he said as he scanned over my drawing. I glared at him as he idly walked across the room looking at my drawing.

"You know, I think he looks a lot like me," he said and I grew instantly enraged.

"You're nothing like him! He slays monsters like you!" I screamed.

He laughed at that before he let the picture fall to the ground. As he was approaching the bed again, he passed a mirror and paused to look at himself. My father absolutely loved to admire himself in the mirror. He ran his fingers though his lengthy dark mane and wiped an imaginary smudge off his porcelain skin.

"You know, one day Tseng you will look just like me. You should be proud that you have such a beautiful father," he said as he smiled at himself in the mirror. As much I wanted to deny it, I did look a lot like my father, whilst Zhao favored our mother. My brother had dark hair like our father, but it was wavy like our mother's. His skin was fairer than mine and he also had lighter eyes.

Once my father pulled himself away from his reflection, he crossed the room and sat on the bed.

"I think that is why I enjoy you so much," he said to me with malicious intent in his eyes. "You look just like me."

He grabbed me by my hair and yanked me closer to him. I grunted as he laid me across his lap. He then grinned and held up the pill in his left hand.

"Time for your medicine my son," he said and then placed the pill on the tip of his tongue. I struggled frantically as his mouth came closer to mine and his disgusting lips almost covered mine until my brother suddenly bounded for the door, calling out for our mother. He always ran….always. My father dropped me and swore as he went after Zhao.

"Maaaa! Maaa!" he yelled frantically. My father grabbed him by his arms and dragged him back into bed.

"You horrid child!" he spat. "You made me swallow your brother's pill!"

Zhao hid under the blankets again and I made to hide under the bed but he yanked me by my legs and dragged me out. I screamed as my nails scrapped across the wooden floorboards.

"I can tell you're eager," he said amused.

"So tell me son," he said as he started to unloosen his belt. "If the characters from your world are real, how come they never come when you call? Why is it that when no matter who you call for no one ever comes? Would you like to know?"

I shook my head but of course he responded anyway. He had taken off his tie and undid the buttons of his shirt. His long, slender fingers touched my cheek delicately.

"It's because there is no one is this world who cares about you. Not even your mother. If she did, then she'd be here for you."

I shook my head as tears ran down my cheeks. "You're wrong! So very wrong!"

"Oh am I? Then who, my child, will come when you call? In fact, I'll let you both call out to one person without consequence."

Immediately, Zhao called for our mother, which was useless because she was deaf. She would never hear us no matter how much we screamed or called out to her. When nothing happened he crawled out of bed and clung to me as he cried. My father smirked and made a gesture to me, signaling that it was my turn.

"Well child, who will you call? Your mother? Your imaginary friends? You could call me if you want but I'm just letting you know, I won't be much help!" he said, ending in rancorous laughter.

Suddenly, the door flung open and my father went wide eyed. My brother held onto me as a bright red light flooded into the room. My father scowled as the light started to fade and the intruder came into view. We all watched in awe as the man came forward. He was unlike any man I'd seen in my whole life. He exuded confidence and strength and he had a grin that even rivaled my father's.

"What's going on in here, yo?" the stranger spoke in an odd accent. My father growled at the other man dressed in a dark blue suit. Maybe he was one of Lord Blue Cat's Soldiers sent to save me?

"Who the hell are you and how'd you get in my house?" my father hissed out.

"I was called here by that un'" he said pointing to me. I smiled. He just had to work for Blue Cat!

"He didn't call for anybody," my father bit out. "I've been with him the whole time!"

The crimson haired stranger chucked. "And yet I'm here."

The man took a step toward my father and he took a step back. I grinned as I saw real fear in my father's eyes.

"You should leave, or I will call the police," my father threatened. The stranger laughed deeply.

"Well then, you might just wanna know that I am the police. I'm the police, the lawmaker, the judge, the jury and the undertaker, all wrapped in one. So basically, I'm a Turk."

"Why are you here?" father asked heatedly.

Then the red headed stranger smiled genuinely at me and winked. "I'm here 'cause he called me."

"I just told you…he didn't call anybody!" My father screamed.

The redhead then pulled out a sword from behind his back and I gasped. It was the same weapon the soldiers in Blue Cat used. He did work for him!

"Are you here to slay him?" I asked. The redhead bowed to me, low and graceful and when he came back up he was suddenly dressed in full golden armor.

"I'm here to slay him and I will be there to slay anything that oppresses you. So don't worry bout a'thang kid. I'll come even if you don't call me."

With that, he raised his great weapon and slew my father with one swing of his sword. My father released a most chilling scream and then he disappeared.

The next thing I knew, I was an adult and standing next to this stranger who wasn't such a stranger anymore.

"Reno," I said softly.

He smirked and cocked his head to the side. "Thought you'd never recognize me bossman."

This time it was my turn to chuckle. "It was only a matter of time."

Reno then lunged forward and grabbed my shoulders. "If that's the case, THEN CAN YOU PLEASE WAKE THE HELL UP!"

* * *

I opened my eyes and realized very quickly that I was laying on something soft. White light flooded my vision for a bit until my eyes focused. Without moving my head, I looked over to my left and saw various hospital machines and noticed that I had an IV in my arm. I felt weak, but I wasn't in any pain.

I then looked to my right and was met with a most interesting site. I blinked a few times, trying to see if what I was seeing was real, for to my right was a couch where I assumed guests could sit. At the moment, Reno was laying facedown into the cushions with one arm and leg dangling over the side of the couch, not to mention his left arm was handcuffed to a metal pole situated by the furniture.

I wanted to laugh. The dream I had was quite unexpected and I never thought of all people, Reno would show up in one of my memories and try to alter it. I smiled at the awkwardly positioned redhead on the couch.

Then, I did laugh. Deep and hearty, too. I don't think I'd ever laughed so hard in my life. First, Reno shows up in one of my fucked up memories and slays my abusive father and now here he was passed out a few feet away from me. The insanity of it all had me laughing so hard I couldn't stop.

Reno jolted up like a dog who had just heard its food hit the bowl. He sat up almost robotically and in a still sleep induced haze, he tried to walk over to where the noise was. Unfortunately he forgot he was chained up to the pole and was yanked back.

"Shit," he swore, still groggy. He then glanced over at me and his eyes went wide.

"Tseng?" he called out. I nodded as my laughter died down. He once again tried to approach me and swore once the handcuffs prevented him from doing so. I smiled at him and chuckled at his antics, which made him smile in return.

I tried to sit up and managed to do so even though Reno protested the action. "You still need ta rest Boss. Ya ain't well."

Stubbornly ignoring him, I swung my legs around and placed my feet on the ground. I grabbed my IV drip and used it as a partial support as I stood up and took a step. I felt weak, like my body had been inactive for awhile which it probably was. I didn't know how long I'd been asleep for but it felt lengthy. I took another step and almost stumbled. My legs were practically trembling and I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to stand if not without support. I also noticed I had lost weight, about five to ten pounds.

"Tseng, you shouldn't be doing this," Reno said concerned. "I mean, what if you fall and break your hip?"

I smiled at that, but there was nothing he could say that would make me stop. The strain was evident in my slow pace, but I just had to get to him. Just to touch him, make sure he was tangible.

"Damn it! Don't fall!" he yelled. I was nearly there, so close I could smell the scent of cigarettes on his clothes. Once I was close enough he reached his free hand out and I grabbed it. Slowly, he guided me closer to him. He sat me down on the couch gently and I released a sigh from the strain.

"Now why'd ya go and do that for? You could have been hurt!" the redheaded scolded. I just smiled and stared into his aquamarine irises. My loudmouthed second in command kept on ranting on about the dangers of what could have happened which was irreverent since I had already passed that obstacle. When he was mid sentence, I leaned over and rested my head on shoulder. He shut up immediately.

"Aw, peace at last," I said jokingly. I closed my eyes, just content that I was able to have a moment with him like this. He was very warm and it was a great comfort, even more so when he placed his arm around me. I relaxed into his embrace and let him hold me in silence for a few minutes. I then felt my chin being tilted up and Reno locked eyes with me.

"Thank you," I said.

"You don't have ta thank me for saving ya life. That's fucking crazy, ya know?" he grinned, his lips charming me even further.

"Can't you just say "you're welcome"?" I teased, my eyes now very focused on that generous mouth of his. Would it be alright if I made contact?

"Hey, Tseng," Reno said in a husky tone.

"Hmm?"

"Nice ass," he said with a smirk.

"What?" I said following his line of vision. He was looking over my shoulder where the hospital gown split, revealing my bottom to the world. Slightly embarrassed, I drew back and gripped the back closed as a pink flush graced my cheeks.

"Reno, you…"

He then moved a bit forward until our lips connected. Technically, it wasn't the first time I'd kissed him, considering I pecked him one when he was unconscious, but this was unequivocally different. It was almost like this kiss was the key to unlocking all my true desires that I had locked away for so long. This light encounter meant so many things and I knew instantly that there would come a change. I would no longer be able to repress how I felt about him.

I closed my eyes and allowed myself to be pulled into his embrace. The sensation I felt from such an innocent and universal expression of love had me going lightheaded. I'd been in love before, but this feeling I felt now was virtually nonexistent when I had kissed her. I then felt my lips forming into a smile I couldn't hold back. Reno smiled against my lips as well and we both parted laughing. In that moment, I felt the best I had in weeks. I'd even go so far as to say I hadn't felt this wondrous since I met Aerith.

"Cheesy motherfucker," Reno said as he ran his fingers through my hair. He also was slightly flushed and I could only hope he had a similar experience.

"Thought you was never gonna wake up," he said, sounding relieved. I smiled at that as well, thinking of the dream I had just had.

"I feel quite weak," I admitted. "How long have I been…"

I was taken by surprise when he suddenly kissed me, silencing me as his lips caressed mine. He placed his hand behind the back of my head to pull me closer, causing our kiss to deepen as a result. I felt his hand slightly tremble and I pulled back slightly to see if he was alright.

"Um…sorry 'bout that…couldn't help myself," he said, scratching his head. "Just been wanting to do that for a while…thought might as well do it twice, ya know?

I swept a few stands of dark hair behind my ear and nodded in understanding. "I suppose that is your logic."

"But getting back to your question before I interrupted ya…" he continued, "You've been asleep for about a week. And just to let ya know, there's been a lot of bullshit going on."

He then made a face that looked as if he were debating on telling me something. His bottom lip slipped between his teeth and he began to idly chew it in thought. This made me worry, as Reno the motor mouth usually didn't stall to tell me something.

"Reno, I think you should inform me of what's been going on. I am still the leader you know?" I stated.

The spiky red head sighed before he turned his gaze on me. "I dunno. I mean you're still recovering and shit and I don't wanna bog you down with this as soon as you wake up."

I reached for his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Reno…" I said, not needing to say anything more than that to convey what I wanted.

He tried to cross his arms and growled in annoyance at the handcuff that bound him.

"Why don't you just slip out of it?" I asked. He was fully capable of doing so. He shook his head.

"Are you in trouble?" I asked, hoping that the Turk that had gone through so much hell to save me wasn't in a dilemma.

"Actually, Rude and I are under house arrest for breaking some rules and shit. Now before you go off," he said whist raising a hand to halt my rage that would have surely erupted unrestrained, "Hold that till the end, cause I'm about to lay some serious bull-fucking-shit just right here on the table."

I nodded, holding back my ire.

"Okay so like I said, Rude and I are under arrest but we were allowed to take turns staying with you as long as we were chained up. Rude and I took turns and I just happened to be here when you woke up. We got some pretty heavy charges on us, unfortunately. Also, Heidegger has taken control of the Turks unit. It was supposed to be temporary but now it's a permanent thing. There's more but I can't bring myself to tell you just yet."

"So…am I the leader of the Turks or what?" I asked, trying to hide my anger.

"Yes, you're still the commander," he said. "But Tseng…there's something I gotta tell you about Ruf…"

The door to my room opened and it took me a second to remember the man who was quickly coming to my side. He had long dark hair tied back into a neat ponytail and he was dressed in a fashionable black tweed blazer with dark pants that led to sleek red boots. He looked very wealthy and the man exuded a sincere warmth that I felt when he smiled at me; however, it was his eyes that jogged my memory and I couldn't believe I didn't remember him sooner.

"Armand," I said with a faint smile. The golden eyed gentleman took a slight bow and smiled wide at me.

"Hello, Tseng," he said with a pleasant smile."Nice to see you again too, Reno."

"Yo," he said in response. It took second, but I then realized that they were talking to each other as if they'd met before. I looked at Reno, then Armand. They both seemed pretty comfortable around each other.

"You two…are familiar with each other?" I asked. Reno nodded his head.

"Yup, this guy's been visiting with us for the whole time. He's a pretty cool guy, ya know?"

Armand smiled. "Why thank you Reno dear. Oh we've had the most interesting of conversations this week Tseng. I can see why you like him."

"So," Armand continued, "how are you feeling, love?"

"I feel fine really," I responded.

"Well that's wonderful news. I am so glad you are alright." The golden eyed gentleman said, his tone sincere. "Jiao is also doing well."

"Jiao," I said his name, thinking about the young Wutaiian boy. "Where is he now?"

"He is at my hotel in the LOVELESS district. I shall inform him of your status when I get back."

With the door already open, a man in a white lab coat walked in. I assumed he was the doctor and he looked quite shocked to see me sitting on the couch next to Reno with Armand by my side.

"Commander Tseng? How'd you get over there in your state?" he asked.

"He was highly motivated," Reno joked, though the doctor didn't find it so funny and a few minutes later I was back in the hospital bed. I found myself missing Reno's warmth but I didn't voice my complaint. Dr. Thames, as he was called, gave me a brief overview of what my situation had been.

"Basically, you were almost dead when you arrived at the Costa Del Sol Hospital, but you were soon revived with a phoenix down. After that, you were injected with 30ml of mako into your chest to allow your lung to repair itself. Your broken bones were set and mended with a high level curaga. After you were stabilized, you were transported here to the Shin-Ra Infimary. You may feel a bit weak from treatment and I recommend you stay on bed rest for at least a week, but you do not need to stay here to do so. I can give you one of my nurses to help aid you while at home or you could have someone else take care…"

"I'll do it!" Reno yelled jumping up from his position, the handcuffs still limiting his mobility. "I'm already on fucking house arrest so I'll be available."

"I think that's probably the worst idea you've ever had," said a familiar voice that came from the doorway. I smiled at him and held back my anger as I saw him being escorted in handcuffs by a SOLDIER.

"Hello, Rude," I said, truly glad to see him. He gave me a ghost of a smile as he came to my bedside.

"I'm glad you seem well," he said.

"Thank you Rude. I am truly grateful for what you have done for me," I said, looking up at the tall, brooding man. He nodded in acknowledgement and moved over to where Reno was standing.

"But seriously, Tseng. Lemme do this, I know I can take care of ya!" Reno resumed. Rude shook his head.

"Perhaps you would like me to hire you a personal maid, nurse and cook to help you instead?" Armand offered. It seemed as if most people didn't trust me in Reno's care and in all honesty I didn't trust him completely either, but what I did know was that I wanted to be with him. I could only hope for the best as I relayed my answered.

"Sure, Reno."

Reno grinned and gave me a thumbs up. "Bossman, you couldn't be in more capable hands."

"I'm sure a nurse is more qualified than you," Rude commented.

"Well," Dr. Thames began, "You are free to go in about two hours. The nurse with be back then to release you."

After the doctor left, Armand followed suit closely after, promising he'd visit me tomorrow with Jiao in tow. I kept up a faint smile, but inwardly I was brewing with rage. I was upset that Reno and Rude were under arrest and I felt responsible. Also, I was livid about the fact that our department was under Heidegger's control. Plus, I'm sure Reno had other things to tell me that he was withholding at the moment, though I was fairly certain I could get the information out of him.

Then there was the issue with Faire. I had made it my personal vendetta to make him suffer for what he did to me. Also, I wanted to take over the case of the bombing. I missed working. I missed the analytical problem solving that my job provided. But for now, I would have to concentrate on building up my strength first. As much as I didn't want to wait, I would have to get better before I attempted to go back to work.

I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice when Reno appeared beside my bed. The SOLDIER had unlocked him from the pole so he now had his hands handcuffed behind his back.

"I'll see ya later Tseng," he through a grin.

Rude nodded to me as they were both escorted out. Once they left, I was alone again. I pulled up the blankets and closed my eyes, wanting to get a bit of sleep in before I was released. Also, sleeping would help me take my mind off my current situation. I fell asleep quite easily and slept soundly.

At one point I thought I heard the door open, but ignored it as I was too tired. I figured I was in a secure place, so why get even bother to check and see who it was. It went against everything I was taught but I was really too drained to care.

I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not, but at some point I felt soft lips against my own. The smell of expensive cologne was so familiar, but as soon as their lips were upon me they were gone. I think I heard the words "_I love you" _follow soon after. I responded back and then a few seconds later the lips were gone. I don't know what I said but I didn't think too much of it. Other than that odd dream, I slept rather peacefully.

* * *

Reno's POV

I had been escorted to Tseng's apartment soon after I had left the hospital. Indeed I was pissed I was being treated like this, but I found it rather hard to stay mad after having seen Tseng. I was so relieved that he was awake and going to recover. The memory of our first kiss replayed over and over in my head and I'm sure I looked like a drunken sap as I spaced out in the back of the transport vehicle. His lips had felt so unexpectedly soft, much softer than my own. I hardly noticed the when the vehicle stopped, I'd been so deep in my thoughts.

"Hey, we're here," the SOLDIER beside me said. I scowled at him but exited the vehicle. I was a bit surprised to see the building that stood tall and proud above the city skyline. The condominium had to be at least thirty stories high and looked very ritzy.

"He lives here?" I asked the young SOLDIER. He nodded his head and handed me a piece of paper with a key folded into it.

"This is his key and room number. Please note that if you try to run or leave the premises you will be sent to jail if caught."

They tossed me my bag of necessities before they drove off. I shrugged my shoulders and looked up at the expensive place in front of me. I walked in the doors and marveled at the beautiful architecture of the place. This placed looked very classy, but the people who walked in and out looked very stuck up and pompous. I definitely looked out of place with my shirt not tucked and my hair a spiky vibrant red. A man dressed in a white uniform approached me as I was admiring the surroundings.

"Can I help you," he said with a smile, though I definitely picked up the attitude in his tone.

"Naw I'm good man," responded, hoping he'd just go away. The pretentious prick raised a thick blond brow at my thick slum drawled accent and coughed slightly to cover his obvious frown.

"It's just that I've never seen you here before," he said as he scanned my appearance. I had been in a relatively decent mood but this asshole was about to ruin it.

"Just fuck off would ya," I snapped. I turned on my heels and headed for the elevators. The sound of the man's crisp shoes pattered behind me as he followed.

"Young man! I just have a few questions to ask you!" he said as he caught up with me. He grabbed my shoulder and I whipped away from him as if his touch were hot liquid.

"Get your motherfucking hands off me!" I snapped, alarming a few people around me. The man frowned and tried to keep his voice low as he spoke to me.

"I just want to talk to you, no need to be so hostile," he snipped. I rolled my eyes and hit the up button.

"Perhaps you should come with me," he pestered, pissing me off even further. He made an attempt to usher me away from the elevators and the nervous people around me. This time I fixed him fierce glare and gritted my teeth. I grabbed him by the front of his suit jacket and yanked him closer.

"Look _Sir,_" I practically spat out, "If you keep putting your hands on me I'm gonna assume you wanna fight. Now that may be cause I come from the lower lands, but under the plate you don't put your hands on somebody and expect to go home with your fucking face intact. So once again, if you touch or bother me one more time I'm gonna knock your fucking fat ass out on the floor in front of all these people here. Now fuck off."

That being said, I stepped into the elevator which had arrived right on time. I smirked at the man's dumbfounded expression before the doors closed. Feeling a bit better, I took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. Tseng lived on the top floor and the elevator ride was a bit long. I was relived once I reached his floor. I walked down the hall and located my boss' door. I unlocked it and went inside.

"Well fuck," I said once I entered the condo. It was just so very beautiful, with high ceilings and huge glass windows which provided a great view of the city. The living area was very spacious and contemporary. His home made mine look like shit, even though it was in the LOVELESS district, technically considered prime real estate I thought in defense of my place.

I left my bag at the front as I started to walk around and explore the place. I walked up the grand staircase and entered the first room I encountered, which turned out to be a rather spacious bathroom. I made note of its location and continued on to the next room, which turned out to be an empty room. I shrugged my shoulders and opened the next door which also turned out to be another empty, as well as the next two doors I checked. I scratched my head the odd occurrence. Why were they all empty and why did he have so many rooms in the first place. It seemed a bit excessive for one single man.

Luckily, the next room I entered was fully furnished and it looked like I had found Tseng's bedroom. I entered with sly grin, and the intent to pry into my boss' personal life. Sure it was an invasion of privacy, but I'd probably never get this chance again. I'd be a dope to let this opportunity slip by. I looked underneath the bed, hoping to find some scandalous material like I kept under mine. Instead, I found nothing but a loaded shotgun, not uncommon for a Turk.

I looked in his drawers and closets for some proof that the man I loved held a personal life outside of work. No luck. Feeling discouraged, I plopped onto the huge bed located in the center of the room and sighed. Tseng's room seemed to hold no semblance of any personal items. No photos, no videos and especially no porn. I suddenly sat up and glanced around the room. Tseng was still a man and he did have needs just like every other male, I just needed to find out where he hid his "needs". With renewed vigor, I continued my search around the room.

After twenty minutes of searching, I finally came across something that I had passed over the first time. I noticed a black box located on the top shelf of his dresser. At first glance it had looked like an ordinary shoe box, but when I picked it up it felt a lot heavier than just a regular box of shoes. I sat down on the bed and pulled off the top of the black box. A stack of photos was in one part of the box, as well as a few papers. I patted myself on the back as I picked up the stack of photos, having accomplished my goal.

The first photo was a picture of an insanely gorgeous woman with long blond hair, very fair skin and pale green eyes. I wondered who she was as I went to the next picture which was a picture of the same woman, but she had a little boy on her lap this time. He wasn't smiling, but seemed quite content in her arms. I looked closely at the boy who seemed about age two and had very dark hair in contrast to the woman holding him.

It was only when I kept looking through more photos did I come across a family pic. I immediately knew the boy with the frown on his face to be my leader who looked about six or seven in the pic. He looked so adorable regardless of the scowl. Another younger boy was in the pretty blond woman's arms and it was only when I saw this pic that I put the pieces together. I felt pretty dumb for not realizing it earlier.

This woman was his mother. I scanned over the pic again before I moved to the next one. The bulk of these photos were a lot different from the first few I saw. These ones were pics of several different landscapes and towns. I had almost gotten through most of the pics before I came across a picture of another human being. This time it was a close up of a handsome man with shoulder length golden hair and baby blue eyes. I assumed he was probably a relative of Tseng's mother or something. Most of the remaining pictures were taken in Midgar and usually with this man. I noticed that Tseng had looked happier with this man than he had in the pictures that had been obviously taken when he was still living with his immediate family.

I placed the photos back into the box and picked up the papers on the other side of the box. Unfortunately, all of them were written in Wutaiian and I couldn't understand a damn thing. Tseng really was as clean as a whistle. All he had hidden were family pics and a few documents. I put the box back where I found it and closed the walk-in closet carefully behind me.

Finished with my snooping, I returned back downstairs and sat down on one of the couches in the living area. I thought about watching a little tv until Tseng arrived, but then I realized he didn't have a television. Who the hell doesn't have a tv! I sighed and relaxed back into the sofa. I didn't have a chance to get much from apartment before they brought me here, but I did manage to grab my laptop. I retrieved it from my bag and watched a few videos to pass time.

I must have fallen asleep because I bolted up at the sound of the door being unlocked. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, stood up with a yawn and stretched out my limbs. The door opened and two nurses entered. One of them was wheeling in my boss who sat in a wheelchair with an irritated expression. I could tell he did not like his situation at all, but he'd have to make the best of it.

"Heya bossman," I said as I approached him.

"Are you his caretaker?" the nurse asked.

"That be me," I said winking at Tseng. He rolled his eyes and tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair with obvious impatience.

"These are his medications," she said. "He should take two a day of each bottle until the medicine runs out."

"No problem. I'll make sure the old man takes his meds," I said jokingly. They both said their goodbyes to my leader before they left. As soon as they did, Tseng tried to get up out of his wheelchair. I dropped the small bag in my hand and rushed to his side.

"Yo, maybe you should stay in that chair for a bit," I suggested. Tseng scowled as he pressed on.

"I do not need a wheelchair," he said firmly. I helped him to his feet and he hissed at the strain. He managed to take a few steps with my help before he almost collapsed. I grabbed him and kept him upright. I noticed he didn't look very well, almost like he was about to throw up. Sensing trouble, I acted quickly and picked him up bridal style. I knew something was very wrong when he didn't even protest. I rushed him to the nearest bathroom and made it just in time as he upchucked. I patted his head gently as he practically threw his brains up.

He dry heaved into the toilet bowl a few times before he collapsed around the bowl. I flushed the toilet and gathered up my boss in my arms. His eyes looked a bit cloudy and he was very pale. As I carried him upstairs, I wondered what could have gone wrong so quickly. He seemed fine when he arrived, pissed off, but not sickly. I brought him to his room and laid him in his bed. When I placed my hand over his forehead, he didn't feel unnaturally warm or anything.

"Tseng," I said as I caressed his cheek. He blinked slowly before he looked up at me.

"Fucking…side effects," he managed to get out. I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at him as I stroked his hair.

"You know, I'd kiss ya right now if ya hadn't just barfed a few minutes ago."

He smiled at this as he reached his hand up to ruffle my spikes.

"Stay out of my dreams, okay," he said. I had no idea what he meant but I chuckled and nodded my head.

"Whatever you say boss."

* * *

**A/N: ****Gawh! I love writing these two together! So much fun. Thanks to those who have reviewed thus far. Keep em' coming! So glad its Summer!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Wonderland Fallout**

Tseng's POV

I woke up feeling comfortable and very warm. My back was pressed against something solid and I felt very safe, something I couldn't say often. A pale arm was draped casually around me and held me close. I turned around until I was facing the source of my warmth. Gaia he was so gorgeous. I'd never seen him this close before and he was quite mesmerizing, simply gorgeous. I brought my hand up to his face and delicately traced his features with my index finger.

His eyes flittered open and I immediately retracted my hand. He groaned and once his eyes focused, he released me and swore. He practically fell out of the bed as he backed away from me.

"I'm sorry, Tseng," he said frantically. "I didn't mean to…um."

With as much strength I could muster, I sat up and leaned against the headboard. I smiled at my second in command who seemed quite appalled at what he'd done. He scratched his head and chewed his lip nervously. I'm sure he thought I'd be upset but it was just the opposite.

"Reno," I said softly. "It's fine." He looked a bit relieved once I said that and nodded his head.

"Can you help me to the bathroom?" I asked him. I really wanted to take a bath, and brush my teeth. I hated feeling grungy. He nodded his head and quickly approached the side of the bed I was on. He helped me to my feet and I used him as a crutch. The light switch was flipped on to reveal the master bathroom. He grabbed my toothbrush and handed it to me. After I brushed my teeth, he placed me on the floor so that my back was leaning against the side of the huge bathtub.

"I like very hot water," I said as he turned on the water.

"Sure thing," he said as the tub began to fill. "Ya want bubbles?" he asked.

I raised a dark brow at him. "Do I look like a woman to you?"

The mischievous turk smirked at that, and was about to respond but I covered his mouth with my hand.

"Don't answer that," I said, not wanting to hear any of his sly remarks. I removed my hand, though he still had that devious smirk on his face. Suddenly, the doorbell sounded throughout the house.

"The fuck?" Reno exclaimed. "It's seven in the morning."

The redhead stood up and exited the bathroom to see who was at the door. While he was gone, I started to remove my clothing. The hospital had given me a gray jogging suit to put on before I left for home. It was a bit itchy so I couldn't wait to get it off. I slipped off the top and managed to get my pants off through the strain. The doctor had informed me my legs would be quite weak for a while due to inactivity and overall malnutrition. My arms felt a bit weak but not as much as my legs.

Leaning forward, I slipped off my socks and underwear and placed them to the side. The tub was just about filled, so I reached over and turned off the water. With my legs as weak as they were, it was going to be a daunting task to try and stand up. I dragged myself across the floor until I was positioned below the sink. I reached my arms up and grabbed the side of it. Using the sink as leverage, I tried to stand up. After a few failures, I managed to stand up while leaning heavily against the sink.

Now that I was upright, I was sure I would be able to take a few steps to the bathtub. I tried to lean away from the sink, but when I did my legs almost gave way.

"Damn it all," I bit out. I slowly sank back to the ground and dragged my body back to the tub. Perhaps I could use my arms to pull myself up and then just swing my legs over into the water. It was worth a try.

I grabbed the side of the tub and hoisted my body up until I was sitting on the edge. So far so good. I grabbed my left leg and swung it over to the other side. Next, I gripped the side as I used all my strength to swing my other leg over. Having accomplished that, I moved my body forward and tried to slowly ease myself in the tub. I hissed as the hot water hit my bottom and started to envelop my body. Once I was fully in, I rested my head against the side and sighed. The hot water felt so good and comforting.

As I idly washed my body, I wondered what was taking Reno so long. Perhaps he was still talking to the visitor. I grabbed the shampoo and gave my scalp and hair a thorough cleansing, followed by conditioner. I submerged underwater and rinsed the stuff from my hair. Not wanting to wallow in dirty water, I drained it and filled it up with new hot water.

Finally, the bathroom door opened and the vibrant redhead entered. "Sorry for the wait. That was just…just…" he trailed off.

I cocked my head to the side in confusion as he stuttered. "It was just, who?"

Reno closed the door behind him and approached the tub without taking his eyes off me. He leaned down next to the tub and scanned over me without discretion. I rolled my eyes as I saw I was the attention of his staring. I was going to tell him to stop gawking and tell me who had he been talking to, but he reached his hand out placed it behind my neck. I then found myself being guided over to him.

"Reno, what are…"

I was silenced as he pressed his lips against mine. He started to move his mouth over mine and I tried resist by pulling away, but he just pulled my head closer to him. I continued to struggle until his tongue darted into my mouth. All my will to resist faded away as his tongue invaded my mouth. The kiss was slow and sensual, yet very passionate. Our tongues coiled around each other as our lips moved together as if we'd been together for years.

Wanting to be closer to him, I reached up and wrapped my wet arms around his neck, deepening our embrace. His lips felt so good against mine. They were soft, yet firm, a good combination. I felt his hands on my back, sliding up and down my wet skin. His shirt was getting soaked, not that it mattered. All I desired was his lips and the feel of his hard body against mine. Being with this man felt like nothing I'd ever experienced. My whole body was tingling from just his touch and I felt as if I couldn't get close enough to him.

I needed to breathe and I parted with him. Reno pressed his forehead to mine, our eyes now level. His eyes were such a pretty color, and I could even see flecks of gold in them at this range. I stared into them and marveled at their beauty. The spiky redhead closed his eyes as he pulled me up slightly from the water for a hug. I laid my head on his shoulder and returned his embrace.

"Tseng," he said softly, "Be with me."

I pulled him closer and he tightened his hold on me. My heart told me to blurt out "yes!", but my mind was telling me to think about it. Immediately the image of the two turks who fell in love dying in a horrible explosion came to view. I had said I would never pursue this man before me because I did not want to end up like them, but was it really so bad to go that way? If one of them had lived and the other died, then the remaining one would have to live with that great emptiness for the rest of their lives. Now that I was experiencing the kind of bond they had, I think now I would prefer to die than live without him. It was a dangerous mindset for a turk leader to have, but I don't believe I could think otherwise. I needed and wanted Reno in my life, and if this decision gets me killed, then so be it.

"Yes, Reno," I said against his ear. "I'll be with you."

As soon as he heard those words he turned his head and kissed my lips, though this one was more forceful than the first. I too felt my passion greatly heightened now and I kissed him back with equal vigor. His hands returned to my back and his fingers ran down my slick skin slowly causing goose bumps to rise in their wake. With blunt teeth, he nibbled at my bottom lip and suckled it lightly. Seeking to get closer to him, I tried to rise up on my knees only to forget that they weren't strong enough yet. They gave way and I would have fallen into the water had Reno not wrapped his arms firmly around my waist, which kept me from sinking. He smirked against my lips before he turned his attention to my neck. His tongue swiped over the area until I felt his teeth sink lightly into my skin.

"Reno…" I moaned out.

I felt him pull me closer and then start to rise up. My body was pulled from up from the water and I wrapped my arms around his neck so I wouldn't fall. He pulled my legs up and hooked his arms around them to keep them up around his waist. With his teeth still connected to my neck, he took a few brief steps until my back was against the cool wall of the bathroom. I hissed at the feeling and slid my hands down until they rested over my new lover's pectorals. My fingers worked quickly to undo the first few buttons of his soaking wet white shirt. Once that was accomplished, I trailed my fingers down his chest with a pleased moan.

"Fuck, Tseng," Reno groaned. He pulled his lips from my neck and brought them back up to my lips for a passionate kiss. I pressed my thumbs over his pink nipples and gently rotated them over the rosy buds. He moaned into my mouth and I did the same when my cock rubbed against his hard abs. I rocked my hips forward, seeking more contact with my lover's firm body.

"R-Reno… aren't we skipping a few steps. Like dinner and a movie?" I said through an amused smirk, though my body seemed to be acting on its own accord.

"How about I just use my "I just saved your life" pass and skip all that," the redhead said before his lips returned to my neck. I would most certainly have a bruise in that area.

"I wonder what Rude will do with his pass?" I said as my fingers flicked over his nipples. He moaned against my neck and suckled it harshly before looking me in the eyes.

"As long as it's not you, I really don't give a fuck," he said before he tried to go in for another kiss, but I covered his mouth with my hands.

"I think we should stop," I said through a smirk, which turned into a full out smile at Reno's disappointed expression.

"But Smung!" he mumbled from under my hand.

"Reno, we have a lot to do today. Maybe later, love," I said as I caressed his cheek. I removed my hand and chuckled a bit at the frown I revealed.

"No _maybe_ involved," he said through a scowl. "Goddamned cock tease."

I kissed him on his forehead and he slowly started to release me from his tight grip.

"Um, Reno…Reno!" I called out as he started to let go. I knew he'd probably forgotten I couldn't walk and I was going to fall to the floor if he let go. Thankfully, he caught me at the last second and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said regretfully.

"It's quite alright. But I really need to put some clothes on. Can you bring me some?" I asked.

"Ya sure," he said before he carefully set me on the floor. He took one last look at my body before he grinned. I rolled my eyes and covered my unmentionables.

"Just go, hentai," I jested. He left with amusement in his eyes and I relaxed against the wall. As much as I wanted to go farther with him, I had much more pressing matters this morning. I had a feeling that if we got started we wouldn't stop for anything. His touch was just to intoxicating and his body was just as appealing.

He came back and set the clothes beside me. I looked over what he had brought me and gave him a look once I picked up the articles of clothing.

"You would manage to find the only pair of jeans I have," I said. He smirked and made to leave the room.

"Holla if ya need help spaghetti legs," he joked. I frowned at his reference to my legs and waved him off. After he exited, I slipped on the black formfitting long-sleeved shirt with relative ease. Next, I leaned forward and dragged my underwear up my legs without much effort, followed by dark jeans. I zipped them up and put on white socks. I ran my fingers through my long dark locks and dragged my body over to a drawer where I kept my hair brushes.

I reached in to grab one and commenced to brushing my dark mane. Since I didn't have to work, I didn't see the point in styling it in my usual slicked back form, which I only did to keep my hair out of my face when working. Instead, I kept it loose. It was still a bit damp, but would dry eventually. After I was finished, I knocked on the door a few times, signaling I was finished. Reno opened the door and smirked down at me.

"Ya done my little infirm?" he said through a smirk.

"Fuck you, Reno," I said as he picked me up off the ground, carrying me bridal style. I scowled in annoyance.

"Must you carry me this way," I complained. "I feel emasculated."

He ignored my protest and walked down the stairs with me in tow. I could feel my stomach rumbling and Reno heard it as well as an amused smirk played on his lips. He kissed my forehead before setting me down on the couch.

"I can make cereal and toast," he stated. "Those are you're only two options."

I frowned and shook my head. "I'd like miso soup with a bit of rice."

The redhead crossed his arms and sighed. "I can't make that. I don't even know what miso soup is."

"How am I supposed to build up my strength by eating cereal? I need more substance than that," I said firmly. He groaned at my request but went to the kitchen anyway. I opened a compartment in the couch and pulled out a remote control. I hit the green button and the screen descended down. I turned on the television and the next thing I knew, Reno was standing in front of the screen.

"So you did have a fucking tv!" he stated. "This is so sweet Tseng! You know how much porn we could watch on this massive screen," he said excitedly. I shook my head at his suggestion.

"I don't watch that stuff Reno; however, I do have a few really good independent films we could watch."

The redhead sighed and looked at me with disappointment. "That sounds really gay, Tseng. And not the good kind either," he said as he walked back to the kitchen. I laughed at that and smiled as I watched him head back. It was then I noticed he was still wearing the same wet clothes from before.

"Reno, do you not want to change?" I asked.

"I would, but I ain't got much in my bag to spare," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You can borrow some of mine," I said as I flipped through channels. He thanked me as he raced upstairs to change. Hopefully he could find something that fit his tall, lanky form. I settled on the news and watched with mild interest before I turned to a children's show I liked to watch. It was a show that taught kids how to speak Wutaiian. Something's they got right, but I always chuckled when they pronounced words wrong. On time they flat out said "shit" because they screwed up the pronunciation.

"Fucking pedophile," Reno said humored as he came down the stairs. I looked back and laughed at the fit of my clothes on him. The shirt fit fine, but the pants were way too short, hitting just above his ankles.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up. At least I'm not the one watching little Wutaiian boys in bathing suits dancing," he snapped out.

"You look so ridiculous," I said with a smirk.

"Fuck you," he said as his pulled out a pot from a cabinet. "How ya make this shit anyway."

"There are recipes in the drawer to your left," I said without looking up. "Oh, and can you make me some tea. I have to drink green tea in the morning."

"What the fuck Tseng! All these unreasonable demands," he yelled, frustrated.

"How is breakfast unreasonable?" I bit back. He groaned as he continued to prep for my meal. As he worked, I watched cartoons for awhile. I also pulled out my sketchbook from a drawer in the small side table. With a blue pen, I stared to sketch as I waited for Reno to finish. I could smell the tea brewing and the soup base being prepared. So far it seemed like he was doing everything right.

"Hey Reno," I called out to the redhead in the kitchen.

"Ya?" he responded.

"Who was at the door earlier?" I asked as the thought popped in my mind.

"Oh, that was just Cissnei," he said, though his tone changed noticeably. I knew he was hiding something from me. I raised a dark brow and cleared my throat.

"And?" I said.

"Oh she was just confirming something. You want salt on your rice?" he said, trying to change the topic.

"Reno," I said in my business tone. "We will talk about this and you will tell me what's going on. I'm tired of being out of the loop."

The redhead sighed as he turned off the stove and rice cooker. He plated my food and put the soup in a bowl. He brought my food over and set it on the table in front of me. The tea he handed to me and I inhaled the grassy scent of it before I took a sip. It was a bit more potent than I liked, and I could definitely taste the medicine he tried to sneak in, but I drank it regardless. Reno took a seat next to me and seemed to be debating on telling me something. I grabbed his hand and brought it up to my cheek. He bit his lip at the touch and his fingers brushed my smooth skin.

"Tseng, it's just…" he started before he tore his hand away from my hold. He stood up and laced his fingers into his red flames as he paced back and forth.

"This is just so fucked up…so fucked," he said heatedly. I cursed my weakness and wished I could stand up to comfort him, but all I could do was try to console him with my voice.

"Reno, please calm down my love," I said softly. "You don't have to tell me now if it makes you this upset."

He nodded his head and I could see he was on the verge of tears. The turk in me wanted to command him to keep his emotions in check, but as his lover I knew something was hurting him. I signaled for him for come to me and he did. I pulled him into my arms and he rested his head on my shoulder.

"Be still my love," I whispered to him. "I will take care of whatever ails you."

"But what if you can't…what if I don't want you to," he mumbled. I kissed his forehead and patted his head lovingly.

"I promise you…I will take of this," I said assuredly. He nodded his head and I released him. Suddenly, there was a rapid knock on the door. Reno took a deep breath before he opened the door. I heard a scream and the next thing I knew I had this warmth around me.

"Sorry, for coming so early," the golden eyed gentleman said as he walked in. "The lad was just so excited to see Tseng he couldn't wait another minute."

I grabbed the boy by his shoulders and pulled him back a bit so I could get a good look at him.

"Jiao," I said with a smile. He looked the best I'd ever seen him. His shoulder length hair was very clean and flowed like liquid silk as he moved. He had two pink hairclips in his hair which I ran my fingers over. His skin was clear and he was all smiles. I'd also never seen him in anything other than our traditional clothing but what he was wearing now suited him very well. He had on a loose fitting designer top paired with skinny leg jeans and sneakers.

"Tsengggg!" he screamed as he tightened his grip on me. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Yes, I am fine," I said reassuringly.

"Oh!" the youth said excitedly. "Armand took me to the mall and bought me _sooo_ much stuff. Even these clothes!" he said, putting emphasis by grabbing his shirt.

Armand smiled as he approached me. He knelt down on one knee, grabbed my hand and kissed it lightly on the knuckle. Reno rolled his eyes and mumbled a "here we go" at the display. I ignored him and smiled at the gorgeous man as he took a seat next to me.

"Good morning my dear," he said cheerily.

"Morning Armand," I said, returning his smile. "I didn't get a chance to say much to you yesterday, but how have you been."

"Honestly, I've been worried about you but seeing as how you're recovering nicely I suppose I can calm down a bit," he said as he ran his fingers through my hair. Jiao shifted in my lap and grabbed my food before placing it in his lap. He scooped up a bit of soup in the spoon and held it to my lips. I sipped it and raised a dark brow at the taste. It was actually pretty good. I looked to my red haired lover who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and brow line furrowed. I had wanted to applaud his cooking, but he seemed to be deep in thought about something, so I turned my attention back to my other two companions. Jiao fed me another sip of soup and smiled brightly as he did.

"Your house is really big Tseng!" he said, feeding me more food. "I can't believe you live here. I thought you came from somewhere like I did, but boy was I wrong!"

Armand picked up my tea and I took a small sip as he pressed it to my lips. "Tseng, I um…just when you have the time, I really need to speak with you, alone," he said, sounding serious. I nodded my head and meant to respond, but Jiao shoved a spoonful of rice in my mouth.

"Tseng needs to eat, Armand," he said firmly. The golden eyed gentleman nodded and gave me another sip of my drink.

"We can talk after I eat," I managed to say before another bit of food was presented to me.

"You know, I can feed myself," I said to the two feeding me like a baby. Jiao just smiled, and continued to feed me anyway. Armand also joined in by giving me spoonfuls of soup. They didn't stop until I had finished it all. Jiao fed me the last bit and kissed my cheek when everything was gone.

"Gochisosama-deshita!" Jiao said cheerfully after I completed my meal. After chatting to them for a bit, I was caught up on what I missed. Apparently, Jiao and Armand had frequently visited Reno and Rude in their holding cells. They liked my turk's very much, but Jiao was scared of Rude due to his intense silent demeanor. Armand had taken Jiao around town and bought him whatever he wanted. Currently they were staying in the presidential suite at _The Highlands_, which was probably one of the most expensive hotels in Midgar. Now I was actually starting to question Armand's origins. He was far too rich for Shinra to not have heard of him by name.

"Shall we go talk?" I said to Armand. He nodded and shooed Jiao from my lap. The boy scowled but moved to sit on the couch. Armand stood up and held his hand out to me. I grabbed his hand as I needed help to stand. I used him as a crutch as we made our way upstairs. Looking back, I glanced at Reno who was in the same position as before. Something definitely was wrong with him.

Armand made to go into one of the many numerous empty rooms that I had, but I halted my movement and he looked at me with a perplexed expression. I had my reasons for those rooms and no one was allowed to go in.

"My room is this way," I said. He nodded his head and we changed course for my bedroom. The gentleman helped me sit up on the bed and I thanked him. Not wasting anytime, Armand sat on the bed next to me and took a deep breath before he spoke.

"Z-Zama called me yesterday night," he said brow line furrowed at that. Zama was Faire's incestuous brother and had been Armand's friend.

"He called to say that he was sorry about what happened between us and that he was under the influence of his brother," Armand continued. "And later that night…"

I watched the dark haired man beside me strain in distress. He pulled out his phone and brought up his history before he handed it to me. Once I saw it, my fingers tensed around the small object.

"Faire," I practically spat his name. I was becoming upset just thinking about the man.

"Yes, he called to tell me that he was disappointed in me for choosing a stranger over my best friends," the golden eyed gentleman sighed and wrapped his arms around himself. "He said he was going to take you away from me if I don't return back."

I was so angry all I could do was close my eyes and clench my fists by my sides. "You aren't thinking of going back are you?" I asked straightforwardly. Armand sighed before nodding his head.

"Tseng, I have too, otherwise he'll come for you!" he said.

"Armand, don't even worry about it. He has no chance of getting me now that I'm with my…turks," I said firmly. At the word turk though, Armand bolted up and looked at me with unabashed shock.

"You…you're a turk?" he said shocked.

I nodded and a slight grin formed on my lips. "I'm the leader actually. That coward and his gang may have gotten me when I was at my most vulnerable, but now the odds are much more evened."

"Oh my…I never would have guessed you were…I had just thought that you were a highly ranked official."

"Armand, if you don't mind me asking, what do you do for a living?" I asked. Having revealed my profession, I thought it would give me an opportunity to ask him.

"Oh not at all. I don't do anything for a living really," he said honestly. "My father is the head of the Kalmenian mafia and my older brother was deemed his successor, thus I really have no purpose in the family business. My father gives me about six million gil a year and I live off that. We'll that's not exactly true, I give about half of it away to various charities so…"

"Fucking six million a year?" I said shocked, cutting him off in my surprise. He came from a mob family, but he was so nice and kind it was hard to believe.

"Well he used to until a year ago, but besides that, I don't know what I should do. I don't want to take a chance with your life."

I shook my head and placed a hand onto his shoulder. "Don't worry about it," I said assuredly.

"But Tseng!" he groaned before I silenced him with my finger.

"Do not go back to him," I said, using my no nonsense commander tone. He nodded his head and then wrapped his arms around me.

"Just, be careful," he said. I nodded and he released me.

With Armand's help, we went downstairs to Jiao. I noticed Reno was missing and has asked Jiao where he went off to but all I got back was a shrug. I grew a bit nervous at that but decided not to dawn on it. Reno was still technically on house arrest and I hoped he hadn't gone out and done something stupid.

I spent the morning and the rest of the afternoon with Armand and Jiao. We talked, watched tv and ordered food from a nearby Wutaiian restaurant. Jiao did more talking than the both of us combined but I listened with amusement. The boy was so full of energy, he sort of reminded me of my own younger brother. I hadn't seen Zhao since I left home almost nine, ten years ago. I thought about him frequently and hoped he was doing okay. Perhaps I should pay him a visit sometime; it wasn't like I didn't know where he lived. I also missed my mother terribly. I'd been putting off this visit for so long I sometimes forgot I had a family to visit.

As much as it shamed me to say it, the only reason I couldn't go back was for fear of my father. Of course I was a grown man, but I still got a shiver every time I thought about him. I hated myself for being afraid of him, but even my dreams reflected my fears as most of my nightmares were of him. I'd have to face my fear eventually if I wanted to see the family members I did care about.

Armand and Jiao said their goodbyes around seven p.m. and promised to visit the next day at a more reasonable time. After they left, I was alone and decided to continue my sketch from earlier.

Reno came back around eight o' clock looking a little worse for wear. I sat up from my lounging position on the couch and watched as Reno went to where I kept the alcohol and poured himself a drink. He poured himself a glass of sake and downed it. The turk then walked over to where I was and plopped down next to me.

"Reno," I said softly, but the stressed redhead held up a hand to silence me.

"Tseng, I've checked and rechecked and rechecked the information Cissnei gave me a week ago and even now I went to recheck, but the evidence is overwhelming."

"What is? Reno please just tell me. No more hiding." I said firmly. The redhead sighed before he turned to face me, looking me directly in the eyes. I could see the turmoil in them.

'"Tseng, I don't know how to tell you this but Cissnei's investigation proves that it was Rufus who's been working with Anti-Shinra terrorist. He's been supplying them with bombs, guns and any artillery you could think of. He also hired someone to hack into the system to cover his tracks."

He paused to let me take all of this in. Rufus? Why would Rufus do this against the company he was destined to take over? It didn't make sense. Rufus wouldn't do something like this. Reno and I were very close to the boy and it was hard to believe he was supplying terrorist.

"Are you…"

"Sure? Yes, I'm very fucking sure Tseng," he said as he laced his fingers into his red locks out of frustration.

"Oh, and there's more," he added. I frowned at that. What more could he have to tell me!

"We found out that the ship you were on was actually a carrier for Shinra goods that Rufus used as a transport. We have encrypted messages from him to a man named Donte Pero about where his shipments should go to. Also, this Donte guy works for a guy named Roux, who just so happens to be the head of the Kalmenian mafia."

"Roux? That's Armand's surname," I said, thinking out loud. "You don't think…"

"Well, the '_Roux' _Donte works for is a man named Almedian Roux and he is Armand's father. I did a background check on Armand and grew suspicious when nothing came up. I used our database instead and still got nothing, it was only when I looked up the father did I get a hit by tracing his family tree. It turns out Armand's older brother was supposed to take over the family business but he was murdered last year by a rival gang, thus Armand was the next in line to take over. But right after his brother's death, Armand ran away and went into hiding. Although he cut ties with the mafia, I wondered how the hell he was still so very rich and it turns out he does a lot of side jobs…very expensive side jobs."

"Such as?" I said, hoping he wasn't going to say what I think he was.

"Armand is a fucking hacker, and a very good one at that. And if ya haven't pieced this all together by now I'll just say it. Armand was the hacker Rufus hired. Now this is just my thoughts, but I think he's still working with Rufus; however, I'm not sure if he knows who he's working for. He's caught up in all this and he doesn't even know it! All to avoid becoming the next successor to the Kalmenian Mafia. Poor guy."

As I heard all Reno had to tell me, I tried to piece together what I knew and saw in addition to what was said. I knew it was Donte's ship, but Faire had been his supplier of human goods. Who's to say he didn't supply him with other things as well? But if Faire was just a supplier, then why did he have so much influence in the gang world? It didn't add up.

"Fuck everything to hell," I said as I took in everything Reno had told me. Now I knew why he had been so tense all day. It was hard to face the reality that one of your good friends is a traitor.

"We have to confront Rufus," I said, but Reno shook his head.

"I'd rather have you up and walking before we talk to him. Unless you want to go for the sympathy approach and I put you in a wheelchair."

"Not funny Reno," I said seriously. I just couldn't believe that pretty little Armand was supposed to be a mob boss. He was just too sweet and I knew he didn't have it in him, no wonder he ran away.

"Sorry," Reno said lowly. "I know it's a lot to take in."

I nodded my head and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"God, I need a drink."

* * *

**A/N: Hope you have enjoyed this double update and if so please tell me. More revealings on the way and alot more drama as Rufus enters the equation. Bye-bee!**


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